All Over the Place
by LovinLife107
Summary: Hermione Granger has been pranked by the Weasley twins. Not only are Fred and George in it, but apparently, so are Harry and Ron. What will happen when one prank starts to change her whole life, and that includes her feelings for more than one person..
1. The Chase

Chapter One: The Chase

Author's Note: This story takes place in Hermione, Ron, and Harry's fifth year, making it Fred and George's 7th year, and Ginny's 4th. It's a Fred/Hermione fan fiction and there may be a subplot between a few other characters but I'm not sure yet. This is my first fan fiction so I'm not sure if people will or will not like it. I'd love constructive criticism on my story or any type of review at all on my story, as long as there are no unnecessary mean comments. I hope you guys enjoy this first chapter and if not, I'll just not continue the story and try to write another one that is better. I've changed a few things around in the story and I'll try to give you a heads up on them as I write but if I forget my apologies. Please let me at least know what you think by reviewing and thanks for reading it in the first place.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine and it never will be. It is owned by the wonderful J.K. Rowling.

Hermione rushed forward until she reached the staircase. Climbing two at a time, she made her way up to the seventh floor corridor within thirty seconds. She gasped for breath but continued on as it was very important that she get to Ron and Harry. Onward she went and Hermione spat "Wish bones" at the fat lady while waiting impatiently to get in. It had been a very long day and of course, the fat lady was taking her time getting up. The fat lady had been sleeping and slowly took her time; she lazily stretched her arms and yawned before even looking at Hermione.

"Will you hurry up already? It's not even dark outside yet." Hermione angrily asked.

"Well isn't someone in a bit of a huff this evening?" the fat lady responded. "What happened to you anyway? You look as if you've been attacked or something!"

Hermione was not in a mood to converse and ignored her.

"Wish bones!" She pushed.

"I asked what happened!" The picture shouted back at her. Other pictures were stirring all around the two and Hermione knew for a fact that the fat lady was the head leader of gossip around Hogwarts. There was no way she was going to tell the fat lady what had happened when she needed to find Harry and Ron immediately.

"Never you mind," she said, trying to act as if nothing had happened. "Now PLEASE let me in. Wish bones!"

"Oh come on please darling? Tell me what happened!"

"Wish bones, now open the damn door!" Hermione shouted and the entranceway swung open as the fat lady grumbled to herself about never knowing anything. Hermione climbed through the passageway and hurried on until she reached the common room. She was quite a sight, with her bushy hair all over the place, only one arm in her coat, and her eyeliner smeared all over her face. She also had a mini peeves over her head singing repetitively "Ding dong the bells will fall when it's wedding time. Ding dong the house will burn when it's wedding time! Ding dong the kids will come an' destroy when it's wedding time!" She did an overview of the room while ignoring all Gryffindors looking at her curiously; she made her way up to where she knew she would probably find Harry and Ron playing wizard chess. Hermione threw open the door to where the fifth years slept and started yelling.

"How in the world could you two do this to me? I suppose you find it-"She was cut off my Neville. "Um… Hermione?" Hermione whipped around spitting a "what?" at him and realized it was only herself and Neville in the room.

This made her even angrier. "Where are they?" she demanded.

Harry and Ron had told Neville not to say where they were heading off to. He had passed them on the steps and had seen them going to hide in the library as that would be the least place Hermione would suspect them to be in.

Neville looked at his hands. "Erm...well…" he knew that he was not much one for secrets and Hermione certainly was scary when she got mad. "They went…they went-"

Hermione cut him off. "Yes! Neville! Where did Harry and Ron go off to? I know that this little joke was probably all their idea. It's like they picked it up from him and Fred!"

Then Hermione stopped. It had just dawned on her. "FRED!" she shouted out. "Fred has to be in on this too." She rambled on. "They must have had a fight and...Or no maybe this was all planned out or...No maybe something completely different! I don't know what goes on in their scrawny insufficient little brains but it's definitely not good."

Neville was looking at her funnily but Hermione ignored him. She knew exactly where to find Fred; she just had to find get the place out of Neville where the other two were hiding. "Neville I am going to ask you this _once_ nicely. Where did Harry and Ron go?" Hermione glared.

Neville did not want to find out what would happen if he didn't tell her. Hermione was a good friend too and she deserved to know. Though, Potter and Weasley had been great too so he had a choice to make: lie or tell the truth. "It'd be safer telling the truth to Hermione than lying and having to face her wrath later," he decided.

"The library," he mumbled and hung his head not making eye contact with Hermione anymore. But Hermione had already turned and ran out the room, off to find Fred and her two "loving" best friends. She had some killing to do.

She had seen Fred talking with his friend Lee in the common room. Hermione had found it a bit odd that he had gave her a peculiar look when she passed but being mad at Harry and Ron, she had disregarded it earlier. Now she knew why he had looked between a mixture of fearful and troubled when she had passed.

"Boy," she thought. "All three of them did this. And George might have been in it too, I'm not sure if he's under some sort of spell, or is just flat out acting but whoever did this is definitely going down." She tried to sort out the whole situation in her mind as she went down the steps hoping to still find Fred in the common room with Lee.

Harry and Ron were definitely in on this. They had been acting out of the ordinary for the last week or so and Hermione had figured it was because of her birthday. Her birthday was now currently two weeks and four days away. She had been excited at first, thinking there might be a birthday bash plan going on but no, this is what was being planned. "Some birthday present." She griped to herself.

At last she made it back into the common room and she scanned the room for the bright red hair. Seeing no Fred anywhere, she kicked herself mentally for not having realized it sooner. "Well at least I know where Harry and Ron are. I'll get Fred for this later."

And so, again, off she went. As she walked she wondered why they had done this. "Probably just have spent too much time around the twins and picked it up. All the joking and silliness probably rubbed off on them." She kept walking. "Well, I'll make sure after this whole fiasco is over they won't find it quite so 'funny' anymore." This motivated her to get her energy back and she broke into a run.

At last, she reached the library and threw open the doors. Harry and Ron were in the back trying to conceal themselves by hiding behind newspapers. Hermione laughed at their measly attempt to put themselves out of sight and started storming heatedly towards the pair. Harry and Ron saw Hermione storming towards them and grew anxious.

"Wha-what should we do Harry?" Ron asked fretfully.

"I dunno mate, obviously she knows we were in on the joke. And it did take her a bit to find us so either George did a very good job and kept her for awhile or she thinks were the only ones in this."

"Yes but that's not what I meant," Ron rushed. "I meant do we stay, and get our asses kicked, or do we get the hell out of here!"

"Oh!" Harry gasped, putting down his newspaper. Hermione was about halfway across the room looking at them haughtily, knowing she had caught her prey.

"Run!" Harry hollered and they both scooted backwards from the table and scampered through the isles of books.

"Oh no, you don't!" Hermione bellowed after them now attracting the attention of Madam Pince. "Shh! Hermione Granger you keep your voice down in this library or I'll throw you right out!"

"Sorry." Hermione quickly said glancing at her and began hastily walking towards an isle of books. Once she was safely out of view she flew. She knew that if she wasn't quick enough Harry and Ron might make it out in time and then it would take even longer to track them down all over again and hurt them. She looked for a couple minutes and saw or heard nothing.

Just as she was turning around to leave the isles and exit the library to look for them elsewhere she heard "Ouch! Ron that was my foot!" She whirled around and saw the ends of their robes exiting the isle next to the isle she was last in. She knew if she cut through a few isles and ran just the right way she would catch up to them.

"I've got you now!" she screamed and started the path that would lead her right to them.

"Hermione Granger, I know you are the one back there causing this entire ruckus! Come out now and leave the library or it's detention for a week!" But Hermione did not care nor even fully hear her. She was going to catch Harry and Ron no matter what happened. She continued running.

The following couple of minutes consisted of Hermione running, Harry and Ron screaming and cutting corners, and a book case falling, thus causing a domino pattern of bookcases falling. At last, when it was over, Hermione was on top of Ron screaming and punching whilst Harry attempted to pull Hermione off.

Ron was at this point willing to try anything to get Hermione off. "Hermione I swear, me and Harry were involved in it but" "-But what? You took part in it? You did? I KNEW it." With that, Hermione turned and struggled to try and hit Harry a few times.

"No but Hermione. It just wasn't us, it was others too." Ron didn't care if he had to give up his brothers. He did not want Hermione after him for the next ten years. His brothers were smart enough to get away and he cared about his own skin more than theirs anyhow.

"Who? Ron who was it then?" Hermione turned away from Harry again and was back at Ron. She had stopped trying to punch in his face but still had a tight grip on him. Ron hesitated. She shook him. "Ron I asked who! Who Ron who!"

Ron couldn't take it anymore. He hated having her mad at him and mostly wanted her off of him immediately. "Fred. Hermione it was Fred and George too! They knew about it too. Yes me and Harry did think of it," Hermione punched each of them as hard as she could in the arm, "but they loved the plan. They wanted to join in and help carry it out." He pleaded while rubbing his arm.

Hermione instantly believed him, not surprised at all that the twins were in the whole fiasco one bit. But Hermione needed to take out her anger and continued to try to pound Ron as she thought about how horrible they had been.

The room was full of cluttered papers, books, and in the corner was Madam Pince, staring in shock at her library. Looking at the golden trio, they didn't seem to care at all about her precious library. She gained back her sense of control after a minute and realized her library had been ruined.

"Hermione Granger! How dare you! I cannot believe that the famous Potter, an excellent student like you, Ms. Granger, and the one Weasley who I thought might not cause quite so much chaos as his siblings have managed not only to earn themselves a week of detention but ruin my library in the process! Could this get any worse?"

Yes it could.

There had been two bookcases that had collided with each other near her and had both managed to get themselves stuck in the wall. Inside that wall was the water pipe system and suddenly, water started spraying all over, getting books, desks, the floor, the wall, the librarian, you name it wet. Meanwhile, Hermione was still trying to beat in Ron's face while Harry struggled to pull her off.

Madam Pince stayed there for a few minutes trying to rescue a few of her books from the water even as she was crying when who else but Fred Weasley should walk through the doors of the library holding the one library book he had ever checked out in his life. Not to mention the fact that it was two months overdue and was called 1001 Ways to Pull Off the Best Pranks. He stared in shock at what was going on for a moment and then started laughing nonstop. He even bent over because his sides were hurting so much from laughter. Every single event going on stopped and everyone looked up. Hermione immediately spotted Fred.

"YOU!" she yelled and Fred fell silent instantly and stood up straight.

Hermione leapt up and charged him like a bull, sopping wet with her fist pulled back ready for action. Fred turned around and ran out of the library with Hermione on his heels. Harry got up, deciding to try and save Fred from the rage of Hermione and darted out of the library. Ron turned and looked at the room, full of water, ruined books, and a very upset Madam Pince. It was either go catch up with Harry or stay here in this mess. He left leaving Madam Pince all alone with the water starting to flood everywhere submerging everything in its path.


	2. The Goblins, the Wizard, and the Centaur

Chapter Two: The Goblins, the Wizard, and the Centaur

Author's Note: I wasn't sure about all of the secret pathways that Fred and George have discovered and was too lazy to go look one up so I made one up. I hope that's alright. Thank you for the three reviews I got. I thought I'd get none so three made me feel wonderful. I'm glad I got feedback on the story. I'm going to continue it unless it loses interest I guess. Again, thank you for reviewing! And if any of you are reading this but not reviewing, please do! I'd love to hear what you think of it and I can guarantee it would make me motivated to update more often then I plan to...

I didn't want Madam Pince to use her wand because the water is still a bit in the plot in this chapter.

"Crap! She must have figured it out!" Fred thought to himself as he sprinted up the four staircases he had to climb in order to get to the statue of the goblin which would lead him to Hogsmeade's at the famous Olivander's Wand Shop. (I apologize if the spelling is off.) Thankfully, Hermione had slipped on the water that had made its way out of the library and formed a small pond like form. She had slid through it, sliding all the way down to the end of the hallway and through the door of some classroom it had looked. Of course Fred had stopped to laugh, but not for very long.

As soon as Hermione came out of the classroom, Fred had run up another flight of stairs as he thought Hermione was once again after him. She made it halfway across the hall before Fred heard a chorus of hollers and whirled around.

What he saw made him hoot with laughter as it was so funny. Harry and Ron had came out of the library after Hermione worried she would harm Fred. Not knowing about the water, like Hermione, Harry and Ron went slipping and sliding across the floor. Hermione was not paying any attention to anything but pounding the heck out of Fred and did not realize that Harry and Ron were coming right at her.

With one big "OOF" the three collided, arms and legs sliding until they hit the wall. All was quiet for a minute and then Fred broke out in laughter yet again. Harry and Ron joined in, and for a split second, everyone thought Hermione may let the whole issue go away.

Not a chance.

By the look Hermione got on her face, Fred knew he had to make it up to the fourth floor, and fast. Hermione rapidly made her way to the stairs, not caring water was still pouring slowly from the library and she was falling every few seconds on her journey to make it to the stairs. Fred made it up to the fourth floor just as Hermione reached the bottom of the staircase and he hurried towards the group of statues.

When he stopped, he saw a centaur, two goblins, and a wizard staring back at him. "Which statue is it?" he pondered. "Guy goblin or girl goblin?" Hearing Hermione yelling to him to halt and come back as she made her way up the staircase and the other two of the golden trio trying to stop her was enough to make him realize he had to make a decision. The voices grew closer and he finally picked the female. "Hope this is the right one," he muttered and mumbled Martigo! a spell that would make the statue move from it's current place. Sure enough, behind it was a dark tunnel that would lead him to Olivander's. He made sure the statue moved down the tunnel a bit. He stopped to catch his breath for a few minutes and then carried on down the tunnel.

"That's weird," Fred thought, "I could have sworn this tunnel went to the left, not right. He shrugged it off. "I haven't been to Olivander's in a while, probably just me." This seemed to calm him down and he forgot about it completely. So Fred kept on going, making the walk to his safety. He would contact George from there he decided and would stay there until Hermione…hopefully recomposed herself.

Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts, Hermione had seen Fred stop and run onto the fourth floor. She knew the fourth floor had a few classrooms and ended at a dead end. Just as she came up to the fourth floor entrance she had seen Fred disappear within the group of statues at the end of the hallway. She strode over to where she had last seen Fred. Hermione was in her fifth year at Hogwarts, meaning she had known the twins for five too. It did not take a genius to figure out that he had used one of his passageways in order to get away from Hermione. She knew she just had to figure out which statue held the escape entry. She examined the statues for a few seconds, knowing Harry and Ron would be there within seconds.

She knew that she had wits but was not strong enough to take them both down at once. She needed to get them both alone to handle each one and decided to try and get the story out of Fred first. Ron and Harry were both at the entrance of the hallway now. She put a spell up to block their path to give her a few more minutes to identify Fred's path.

Hermione went from one statue to the next trying to push them out of the way a bit to see which one would move. First was the centaur. Pushing with all her might, she tried to make it move aside but it wouldn't budge. She moved on to the wizard and gave it a shove. No luck. Next was the male goblin. She decided spells would be more effective. "Martigo!" she grumbled eager to find George. The goblin hopped out of the way and an enlightened tunnel came into view.

Hermione turned around to see Harry and Ron trying to break through the invisible wall she had set to keep them from stopping her. She gave them an evil grin. "I'll deal with you two later." She yelled and Ron stopped screeching at her. Ron thought about this.

Why was he trying to get to Hermione? She obviously wasn't as mad at him and Harry as she was at Fred. Yes, he would probably get another ass whooping when she got back but it wouldn't be half as bad as Fred's was going to be it looked. This was his chance to get away from her and go find someway to make it up to her. The best thing to do right now was to let her do what she wanted so she wouldn't get even angrier at him.

Harry looked at Ron. "Ron, why aren't you helping? Hermione's going to kill Fred in a few minutes; we have to get her away from him."

"Harry have you lost your mind! Hermione not only wants to kill Fred. She wants us too! We have to get out of here now. We have time to make it up to her by the time she gets back." Ron said. "Or find another hiding spot..."

"Does that really matter more to you than helping out Fred? Feeling safe? And I know she'll go after George too eventually. Ron we have to think of more than saving our own butts." Harry said.

"No Harry we don't. They've been at this for years. Always doing jokes on everyone. They'll manage to get her to forgive them. And besides, you know Hermione; she'll get over it eventually."

"I just can't believe you'd rather stay here and hide then go after your own flesh to help." Harry shot back.

"I never said that!" Ron defended.

"Well if you didn't then let's go! We can find some other way to get past her spell and get to her before she finds Fred." Harry started off down the corridor but Ron wasn't following. "Ron come on! Grow up already and do the right thing." Harry urged.

"No Harry. You can go chase after my brother if you want but I'm not coming. He's going to get what he deserves. Don't you want Hermione to still talk to us after this whole thing is over? You grow up! Get smart and do what she wants us to do. Leave her alone." With that, Ron stomped off, head held high, heading out of sight, obviously going out to explore the castle for new hiding places.

Hermione had been watching this row take place and quickly realized that Fred was getting farther and farther away every second. She stepped into the tunnel, and could see it ended not too far from where she was. "Good," she thought. "At least he won't be that far away." Hermione did a quick spell to put the goblin back in place while Harry watched from afar as Hermione disappeared from his view.

"Hermione, Hermione, Hermione." he said to himself. He stood there for a moment, thinking of what had happened that afternoon before coming out of his deep thought. Harry had some catching up to do. He headed off to see if there was someway to get to the other side of the fourth floor.

Fred was coming to the end of the tunnel and still did not see any light that normally showed the entrance to Olivander's from what he remembered. He had thought that the walk would have been a lot shorter but he figured he had gone down too many secret passageways to remember each one exactly. He reached the end of the tunnel to meet a dead end. "Lumos," he muttered and he stared at the wall in front of him. Had Olivander's boarded up this entrance? Why would he have done that? It just didn't make sense. He had been just fine with him and George using it a few times before. But it had been so long…maybehe had boarded it up as he didn't think they would be using it anymore.

Fred contemplated this and sat down. He happened to look up and saw a small white string about five inches long hanging down. Instantly, he stood up and looked at the string. He gave it a slight tug and immediately the ground from up above came down like a trapdoor, opening about one foot.

Fred positioned himself so that he would be in front of the trapdoor and pulled down the string completely. Above he saw metal cases everywhere. He stood there dumbfounded for a second and then pulled himself up into the room.

All around him, on all four walls were metal cases. He saw a door in each corner of the room and it looked a bit like a cave, even with the metal boxes. Fred had no idea where he was. But he was sure of one thing; this was definitely not Olivander's.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hermione was surprised that the tunnel ended so soon. It took her about five minutes at the most she figured. Her muggle-made watch had stopped working because of the water drenching. It read 7:13 pm and she knew that it was quite a lot later. She took a minute to reexamine her evening.

There was the whole fiasco with George, and then it had taken her a disappointing amount of time to find Harry and Ron. Then, she had finally found them, but in the course of action of finding them she had managed to deluge the library in water, get at least a week of detention, and now she was on a mad goose chase to get Fred.

Was it really worth it? Hermione thought about this. He had done so much to her, not including the part that had George in it. "Yes," she thought. It was worth it. Besides, when she got back to the school she might even be suspended. She might as well hurt Fred before she had to go back. She knew that most passageways led to Hogsmeade that George and Fred had. They had been planning to open up a joke shop after 7th year and Hermione thought that they had been sneaking into Hogsmeade a lot more frequently lately.

She had sat down during her thoughts and stood back up again. Hermione wiped the dirt from the tunnel off of her robes and brushed off her hands. She opened the dirt door in front of her and walked in. She knew wherever she was certainly was vaguely familiar, with small boxes covering the walls from top to bottom. It looked as if she was in a storage room. She went up to a box and opened one after shutting the door behind her.

Inside the box was a wand. Holding it up above her, it was smooth wood with unicorn tail hair slightly coming out of one end. She opened another box and it contained yet another wand. It looked completely different. First, it was about two inches taller, was a much deeper color and was a bit rough on some parts. Then, it hit her. She knew where she was.

Olivanders.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at the castle, Harry was busy gathering what he would need for his quest to get Fred back safe without Hermione harming him much. So far he had The Marauder's Map, his invisibility cloak, and a few chocolate frogs as he was starving from skipping dinner earlier. He threw on the cloak, as it was now too late to be wandering the castle and he would surely get in even more trouble if caught out late then he already was in. Harry ran down the corridor holding open The Marauder's Map.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," he mumbled and the map came alive. Harry grinned.It showed him all secret passageways of the statues and anything he wanted to know. He looked closely and found a way around the spell Hermione had set that unfortunately was still holding up its power.

He took a passageway that he remembered George showing him once in second year. It did the trick just as the map said it would. He turned up coming out of the wizard that was next to the place Hermione had gone through.

Harry knew that she had gone through one of the goblins but since he was halfway down the corridor he hadn't been able to see which. Harry wasn't as bright as Hermione and it took him a while to remember the correct spell in order to get past the statues. "Now just which one?" he thought. He decided onwhichgoblin he wantedand said softly "Martigo!" and the statue stepped aside. Harry smiled, glad that he had found the one that opened. Harry rushed into the passageway and said the spell again before Professor Sprout could notice anything had happened. She had just turned down this particular hallway when Harry had first said the spell. He listened to see if she noticed anything but he only heard her passing footsteps.

Harry took a sigh of relief. He was safe…at least until Dumbledore or others noticed he was gone. And then there was always the possibility of Ron telling. He tried to shake the thoughts from his head. For now, the goal was finding Fred before Hermione got to him.


	3. Hogsmeade

A/N: I stopped working on this story over a year and a half ago. However, I got an idea for continuing this fanfic so I'm going to try and finish it. It will still be a Hermione/Fred fanfic. Thanks for reading and I hope you all review!

Oh, and in Chapter Two, you'll notice that Hermione ends up in Ollivander's store. I cannot believe I wrote that, thinking Ollivander's was in Hogsmeade instead of Diagon Alley. That was really stupid of me. Anyways, so the story can continue, please pretend like Ollivander's is in Hogsmeade. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

All Over the Place

Chapter Three: Hogsmeade

_Where am I?_ Fred asked himself, among all the metal cases. He lifted a crate off a large stack and put it down on the floor slowly, noting its weight. The crate opened easily and the lid slid off. Right in front of him was a massive amount of sweets consisting of fudge and caramel. Fred greedily grabbed a handful and opened another box nearby. The next one contained jelly beans and chocolate frogs.

_This must be Honeydukes. _Fred knew that the famous wizarding candy shop could be the only place he could be. _So THAT was why that turn back there in the tunnel seemed odd_. Fred finished his candy and wiped his hands on his robes. He hoped that he had at least gotten rid of Hermione. Having her on his throat wasn't really something he felt up to at the moment. He could just sneak out of the store and find George. _He has to be nearby; we did agree to meet in Hogsmeade._

Fred made his way out of the back storage room quietly. The owners already being upstairs for the evening, it wasn't very hard to sneak out. He crossed the shop and pulled the door shut behind him, feeling the night air at last. He took a deep breath, enjoying the crisp October evening and the smell of autumn all around him.

Figuring he had taken the wrong passageway, he assumed George would be somewhere near Ollivander's and headed that way. As he got closer, he noticed a figure coming out of the doorway. But that person was smaller than George, and he didn't see the familiar red hair he was looking for belonging to his twin. _Who is that?_

He waited behind a nearby building, thinking it was possibly someone who had just been visiting Ollivander. However, this person had school robes on, and she looked slightly disgruntled. _Damn it Hermione, you're smarter than I thought. _Fred cursed to himself; she had followed him right to Hogsmeade without him even knowing it.

Fred watched Hermione march around the corner of the building, wand in her hand. He could tell she was looking for someone, and he didn't want to be the one she found. Fred turned and started walking back towards the castle. He knew of a passageway hidden out on Hogwarts Grounds that he could easily take to get back inside the castle.

_Hope she doesn't find you George._ Fred chuckled to himself, thinking only of what Hermione would do to the first person she found. _Can't blame her though. We might have taken it too far with her. Maybe we did go overboard a little. _Fred shook his head. _What am I thinking? This is Hermione I'm talking about! What am I saying? I'm Fred Weasley; I can't be losing my touch now, could I?_

Fred laughed, thinking about how impossible this was as he reached the Hogwarts Grounds. He slipped behind a tree and disappeared into the passageway.

Hermione came out of Ollivander's moving quickly and quietly. She didn't want to wake up the wand maker. Then she'd have to explain her situation and that was not something she wanted to do. She walked quickly around the back of the shop, turning the corner so the building would hide her from view. Hearing footsteps coming from nearby, she held her breath, worried.

_Oh great Hermione. Look what you've done now, getting yourself caught out of bed at a time like this! And you're not even on school grounds you big idiot! You're at Hogsmeade, where you're not even allowed to be right now! _She groaned inwardly at herself, hoping silently she wouldn't be caught. _Please don't find me, please. I don't want to be expelled…_

"Fred?"

She wasn't Fred. Who was looking for Fred? Hermione knew that voice, but she couldn't put her finger on just who it was.

"Fred?"

It was definitely a guy's voice, from the low, male tone. It had to be either George or Lee she figured, looking for Fred. Well, if that was all they were looking for, she wasn't just going to hide here. Yes, originally she had been after Fred but she could curse George just as easily for this. _Fred might have slipped away but I sure as hell won't let his brother. _They were after all twins, and therefore, partners in crime.

Hermione came out from behind the wall quickly and bumped into something large, not expecting the person to be that close. They both fell to the snow, Hermione landing on top.

"Sorry," she muttered, getting ready to push herself up and see who she had ran into. She looked down to see who it was she had run into. It was George. And he looked really…handsome. He was looking at her too._Snap out of it Hermione, he's waiting for you to get up. _George smirked. _Those beautiful blue eyes._

"Something look good to you Hermione?" George asked her.

Embarrassed, Hermione got up and started to brush the snow off of herself. She waited for George to get up as well. He got up slowly, looking like he was having trouble.

"You sure know how to ram into a guy," George joked.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have been wandering so close," Hermione replied, now remembering how mad she was at the twins. "So YOU were in on this prank too, weren't you?" she demanded angrily.

"And here I had thought you had forgotten about that." George grinned.

"Fat chance." Hermione whipped out her wand.

George put up his hands, looking at Hermione innocently. "Aww, come on Hermione. You know it was fun for you too, you know deep down that what happened was enjoyable even to you."

Hermione's face reddened. "_Enjoyable? _Enjoyable even to someone like _me?_ Do you think its fun when someone gives you a love potion?!"

"It's a new line of products," George explained, ignoring her anger. "We do have to test them out. You know, in order to find out how they work."

"Without even asking the person you're testing it on first?" Hermione yelled. "Without consulting them, or even warning them!?"

"Hermione, it was just a joke."

"Jokes are funny when they aren't being played on YOU!" she said, pointing her finger in his face. "YOU never have any jokes played on you; you just play all the jokes on other people! So YOU'RE not really in any position to judge and to rant on about how I should just take it and get over it. YOU aren't the one with the jokes being played on you!" she finished, poking him hard in the chest.

"Feisty, aren't we?" George grinned.

"That's it! You insufferable little…" She said, pulling out her wand, taking aim.

"Okay, okay!"

Hermione lowered her wand a little. "And…?"

"And…you'll be the first one aware that you're being pranked next time we decide to get you." George answered.

"You've got some nerve!" Hermione said, whipping her wand up, ready to curse him into oblivion any second now.

"Alright, alright!" George said, eyeing her intentions. "I…I'm sorry Hermione."

"Good." Hermione said, now smirking at him and putting away her wand.

"That's it? No curses thrown? No yelling?" George said, pretending to be shocked. "No revenge from the famous Hermione Granger?"

"I _can_ simply accept your apology." Hermione said, still smiling.

"And why is that?" George asked curiously.

"Because since when have you ever heard of a Weasley twin apologizing to anyone for a joke?" she questioned him. "That in itself is revenge enough for me."

"Hey!" George exclaimed. "You tell anyone and I'll deny it like grass is green."

Hermione laughed.

"Being held at wand point by the smartest girl at school is quite intimidating." George argued with a smile.

_He thinks I'm smart!_ Hermione's heart fluttered._ Get a grip on yourself Hermione! He gave you a compliment, it's not like he wants to date you! _

George noticed Hermione's face going red, so he tried to change the subject. "So…have you seen Fred by chance?"

"No, I followed him here though, so he has to be around here somewhere. He just got here a bit faster than me is all."

"I thought he'd meet me here, but we must have missed each other. I came through the Shrieking Shack."

Hermione shook her head. "You two know more passageways than anyone else I know." She said disapprovingly. "And I don't think you two sneak out here all the time just to run away from angry girls out to get revenge."

"Hermione!" George said, putting a hand to his mouth, to cover his fake surprise. "You_can't_ be suggesting that my brother and I would be doing anything against the rules!" He said, mockingly.

Hermione laughed at his joke and nudged him in the side.

"Hermione Granger has a sense of humor?" George teased.

"Yeah, we better get a healer; I think I'm losing it." Hermione shot back.

_I bet Fred left me here when he saw Hermione. So much for sticking up for your twin, though I am glad I'm the one Hermione found. _"We better head back to the castle. It's getting kind of late and I don't want to be caught outside after dark." Hermione said, breaking his thoughts, noticing that he had gotten quiet.

"Yeah, yeah we should." He replied, and they started walking back.

It was quiet between them as they walked through the snow; the only sound was their feet crunching the snow under them. "So how did the prank go in your opinion?" George asked hesitantly.

He was worried about what Hermione might have thought of it. She obviously was upset, but maybe, deep down, she had liked it. He wasn't sure if Hermione remembered the kiss they had shared, and he wasn't about to ask about it either. He definitely remembered it. Hermione's face close to his, her eyes so pretty, and then, the kiss. Yes, she might have been under a love potion but it was the best kiss he could have ever imagined. He had loved it, and he was hoping, just hoping, that Hermione felt the same way when she had kissed him.

Hermione's face got grim again and she stared him down. "Oh, I'd be more than happy to explain how your little prank went in my opinion."

A/N: So that's it. Chapter Three! Let me know what you thought of it. Next chapter will be a flashback to the prank and it will be explained, what exactly happened to Hermione.


	4. The Prank

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: Let me know what you think so far!

All Over the Place

Chapter Four: The Prank

* * *

FLASHBACK

Hermione strutted into the hall as she normally did with her nose in a book. Of course, the book she carried in her hands as she walked was her all-time favorite Hogwarts: A History. The great hall was filled with the noise of lunch chatter, all of the students talking amongst themselves. Her stomach grumbled and she looked at the Gryffindor table for a seat, scanning for an open spot for Ron, Harry, and herself. Harry and Ron had agreed to meet her here in a few minutes. Not seeing three seats anywhere else, she wandered over to where George and Fred sat who were currently in the middle of telling a joke to Alicia and Katie.

Hermione plopped herself down on a seat next to George and decided to have chicken for lunch. She started gathering food onto her plate from various platters as Fred and George eyed each other and nodded.

"Hermione," Fred began, attempting to distract her attention from across the table. "You like books, right?"

Hermione gave him a questioning look as if to ask if he was stupid. "Yes…"

"Which book have you got there? With you right now?" He asked, pointing at the book she had placed on the table beside her.

"Hogwarts: A History."

"Oh."

"That's it?" Hermione took a small bite of the chicken leg on her plate and then raised her goblet to her lips. Taking a large gulp, she placed it back down on the table gently before returning her gaze to Fred.

Fred glanced at George during this who gave him a wink of the eye. He knew George had done it. Hermione looked from twin to twin, wondering what the two were up to. She wasn't dense; she knew that something was definitely going on.

George had been able to slip a few drops of love potion into Hermione's goblet while she had been talking to Fred. It wasn't enough to do any serious damage but she certainly would be head over heels for anyone walking past her. Now they just had to wait for it…

"Yeah, um, thanks Hermione." Fred smiled at her, knowing the potion would take effect any second now.

"What are you up to?" She started to ask with a frown but she suddenly didn't care anymore. Hermione's head was spinning, what was this emotion she was feeling? She felt so light, so cheery, and so…carefree. She didn't care about anything else at the moment. Like the paper she had been planning to get a head start on after a quick lunch. The owl she was going to send to her Mum also no longer mattered. She was so happy, and she wanted to enjoy that feeling no matter what it meant.

Behind where they were all eating lunch, Miles Bletchley stomped by loudly. He was the keeper of the Slytherins' Quidditch team and in his sixth year. Hermione turned around to see who was making all of the noise and saw him. He wasn't ugly but he wasn't anywhere near handsome either. He had a broad face and was in good shape because of the Quidditch workouts but still, he _was_ a Slytherin.

That didn't stop Hermione.

Hermione was out of her seat in an instant. "Miles!" She swooned, coming towards him. The boy turned around slowly and gave her a cold stare. "You," he retorted cruelly. "What could you possibly want?"

"_You!" _Hermione said, throwing herself at the Slytherin.

"GET OFF!" He tried to push her away; but Hermione clung on, finding him absolutely irresistible.

"Oh Miles, I love you!"

"What is it with you?!"

"I love you!"

"I said GET OFF!"

"Never!"

"You stupid mudblood!" He tried to push her to the ground. No luck. "Granger, get the hell away from me!"

"I know you could never mean that." Hermione said sweetly, coming in closer to his face.

"What are you _doing_?" He spat at her nastily. "Have you finally gone and lost it?" He turned towards the Slytherin table to get his fellow classmates' attention. However, the entire hall was already staring at the pair. "Get a load of this," he called to Malfoy sneeringly, "the mudblood has finally gone and lost it."

What he didn't notice as this was going on was that Hermione was getting closer and closer to his face. She couldn't get enough of him. Whatever this emotion was, whatever she was feeling, it needed more fuel. And being closer to this boy made her feel wonderful. She wanted to kiss him, to kiss him deeply and passionately. She _had _to kiss him. She had to have him _now_.

Miles turned back around to sneer at her once again and was met immediately by the lips of Hermione. She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him closer, enjoying the feeling. Miles, however, was beyond disgusted. Once the shock had passed him, he took the opportunity to push Hermione firmly to the floor, very easily overpowering her.

"Mudbloods," he mumbled as he walked away, "pathetic."

But Hermione didn't hear this. Seamus Finnigan had fallen on the floor because he was laughing so hard at what Hermione had done. This was Hermione Granger after all, and she had NEVER done anything like this before. But now, the bushy-haired girl's attention was all on him.

"Hi there." Hermione said, now crouching down at his level. Seamus was still laughing from the previous event and took no notice in Hermione being so close. Before he knew what was happening, Hermione had straddled him and had him on the floor.

"Hermione, what are you-" He tried to ask but Hermione stopped him.

"Shhh." She said, putting her hand to her lips. She then dove in, kissing him way too enthusiastically. Seamus Finnigan didn't object though. He didn't respond at first, but after a few seconds, he realized just how good of a kisser Hermione was and chose to enjoy it while it lasted. He wasn't one to turn down a good snog.

Fred and George were in tears they were laughing so hard. They had never expected Hermione to be this passionate over boys because of one simple love potion. The particular potion they had given her was only supposed to make her fall in love with one person, the first person to walk by, not any and all boys walking by. They definitely had a lot of kinks to work out if this is how the potion affected people. But for now, they'd let chaos do it's job and sit back to enjoy the show.

Ron came into the hall proudly though he was a bit worried about how Hermione would react to him. Would Hermione be all over him or would she be her old self? He really hoped that the twins' potion had worked and Hermione would be nuts about him. Absorbed deep in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed the large scene going on near the Gryffindor table. Harry's voice finally broke through his thoughts.

"Is that Seamus? What is going on in here?" Harry said, obviously very amused.

Ron turned to where Harry was looking. He noticed how the Great Hall was filled with laughter and observed the sight before him. On the floor near the Gryffindor table was Seamus, lying on the floor. And it looked like some witch was having her way with him as he lay there. "That-a-boy Seamus!" Ron called, letting out a low whistle to show his approval. He tried to figure out who the girl was; she looked familiar and was obviously in Gryffindor.

_She's got the same hair color as Hermione _he realizedwhile walking closer where a small crowd had now formed around the two. _Lucky mate, that Seamus is. That girl is all over him. _Ron joined the circle of people around the couple to take a closer look. Catcalls and whistles were made around him.

Then it hit him. _That's Hermione on the floor kissing Seamus!!_ Ron didn't think about how this was probably the twins' fault. All he cared about was that Seamus Finnigan was on the floor kissing _his_ girl, and that was not acceptable. Maybe they weren't girlfriend and boyfriend yet, but they were going to be soon, and Ron was more than angry.

Harry seemed to have realized this too, and tried to grab a hold of Ron's robes. An angry Ron was no match for Harry though; he broke away from Harry's grasp instantaneously and charged towards Seamus.

"I'LL KILL HIM!"

"Ron, stop!" Harry pleaded, charging after him. He figured this was the work of the twins, and if they could manage to stay calm, it would all get settled out eventually.

"GET OFF OF HERMIONE!"

Seamus glanced up, seeing a very red-faced Ron coming towards him. He stopped kissing, pushing Hermione away from his face. "Whoa, hold up mate!" He said putting his hands up in surrender. "She's on top of me!" The youngest Weasley wasn't listening though, he firmly but gently pulled Hermione off of Seamus as if she was a feather. After he was done, he went straight for the Finnigan boy's face. He made direct contact, and the blood started pouring out of his victim's nose.

"How dare you go after Hermione?" He growled, taking aim again. "Don't you ever-"

"You're really handsome." Hermione said, pulling Ron's shoulder so that he was facing her. Because it was Hermione, Ron's attention had left Seamus for a minute. She flashed him a grin, before going in for the kiss. She kissed him fervently, and he was so mind-blown by the kiss that he let himself be taken over by her.

"Hermione," he moaned, kissing her even more. But the Weasley temper overtook him, and he tenderly broke away from the girl he loved so much. "Let me just finish Finnigan off and then we can go somewhere else." He breathed.

Hermione let him get up and walk away to go find Seamus, who had snuck off during Ron's kiss with her. She had already spotted her next victim behind Ron, the famous Harry Potter.

"Harry!" She said excitedly, bouncing towards him.

"Hey…Hermione," Harry responded anxiously, looking around trying to find the nearest exit. "What…what's up?" Hermione was moving closer and Harry knew what she wanted. This wasn't going to be good if it happened. He had backed up into a wall now. He was trapped, and Hermione was getting even closer. Suddenly she was up against him and held his hands in hers. "Err…Hermione what are you doing?"

"You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen Harry, did you know that? That green color your eyes are, they are one of the most enchanting things that I've ever seen." She was so close, and Harry knew what was coming.

Ginny had suddenly appeared behind Hermione, after just walking into the hall late. She tapped her on the shoulder twice, and Hermione turned her head around. "Yes?"

"What exactly are you doing with my boyfriend Hermione?" Ginny said, trying to be patient.

"He's mine now." Was all Hermione said before she turned her attention back to Harry immediately, forcing her lips onto his.

Ginny went red in the face and pulled Hermione off of Harry. "HERMIONE GRANGER. HERE I AM THINKING YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND AND YOU GO OFF AND SNOG MY BOYFRIEND?!?!?!?"

"Harry kissed her too!" Ron was back, now even more furious. "What's going on here Harry?!" Ron demanded.

"That's what I want to know!!" Ginny added loudly.

Hermione wasn't listening. "Neville!" she cooed, running towards the poor boy, which was standing at the edge of the crowd. "Kiss me! Kiss me!"

Ron was stunned. "Hermione, what are you doing?!"

The twins were rolling around on the floor. This may have been the best prank yet, not only had they gotten Ron, but the prank had gone all around the Great Hall and numerous people were involved now. And it was one of the funniest they had pulled in quite a while.

Harry saw the twins on the floor, barely able to breathe they were laughing so hard. "Ron," Harry nudged him.

"What!" Ron spat, staring at Hermione's attempt to convince Neville of her undying love for him. _Why is Hermione acting like this? Why isn't she all over me! What went wrong? She was just in love with me a few minutes ago, what stopped it?!_

"RON!" Harry interrupted, breaking Ron's daze. "Look at the twins!" Harry pointed over to the pair on the floor.

Ron understood. _It was the twins who had done this!_ They had ruined his plan. But they would pay for this, big time.

He stormed over to Fred and George, with Harry right behind him. Ron yelled and screamed at them, cussing and becoming redder every second. Harry knew that Ron would get physical within a few seconds, and he tried to pull Ron back.

Meanwhile, Hermione had noticed George. He looked cute, cute enough to kiss, and she definitely had to have that kiss now. A few steps away from him, she felt a tug at her robes. It was Miles, the boy from Slytherin. "Let me go!" Hermione whined, "I want George!"

The Slytherin stared at her. "You're mine. All mine!"

"Back off! She's mine!" Seamus said, stepping between the two.

"Over my dead body!!!" Ron roared at the boys, grabbing Hermione's wrist.

"No! Pick me Hermione!" Harry said, grabbing Hermione's other wrist.

"I love you more!" Neville cried out.

"Not uh!"

"Pick me Hermione!"

"I love you!"

"Not as much as I do!"

"Hermione's mine! Leave us alone!"

"She'd rather be with me!"

"No!"

"YES!"

"I LOVE YOU HERMIONE! I LOVE YOU HERMIONE!" was heard from the chorus of boys surrounding her. They were starting to fight over her body, pulling her every which way. Hermione's robes were beginning to get torn, and it looked like the groups of obsessive boys were starting to hurt the girl from all of the pulling.

Fred and George took notice of this. "Ehh...George, I think we got ourselves in a pickle here."

"It looks like the potion's backfiring; they're all in love with her now as well!"

"We've gotta get her the antidote. And fast."

"Agreed."

"I've got an idea. When they disperse, take Hermione and _run_."

"Okay…go!"

Fred took Hermione's books off of the table and threw them as far as he could across the Great Hall. "LOOK!" he shouted as loudly as he could. "It's Hermione's books, who wants to pick them up for her?"

All of the boys immediately ran around, attempting to pick up the scattered books.

"She'll fall in love with me when I hand her the books!"

"No she won't!"

"I have more books than you!"

"So?! She'll love me more!"

"I've got Hogwarts: A History! She'll love me the most!"

Fred looked at George. "George, RUN ALREADY!"

George grabbed Hermione's hand and took off up the stairs. _Seven flights, seven flights of stairs to go up with this girl. I hope we make it. _

"Oh George," Hermione fluttered her eyelashes at him as he dragged her up the stairs, two at a time.

"Hermione." He replied, focusing on getting up all seven flights.

"I love you." She said dreamily.

George laughed. _This is so not Hermione. I wish I had a camera right about now._

Hermione continued on. "You're so wonderful. So handsome. Such big, strong muscles that are pulling me along. Those must be from quidditch, you big stud muffin."

George chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "Stud muffin?"

"_My _stud muffin!" Hermione cooed.

Hermione continued to worship George the rest of the way up the stairs. Finally making it to the common room, George stopped to catch his breath for a moment. He let go of Hermione and sat down in an armchair. _Just take 30 seconds, catch your breath and then we'll go get that antidote._ But Hermione was making her way towards him. He wasn't sure how long he could keep the girl off of him. Grabbing her hand again, he raced up the boys' dormitories and threw Hermione onto the nearest bed.

"Ooh George!" Hermione laughed. "Have a little something in mind?"

George snorted. _If Hermione only knew what just came out of her mouth._ He knew the antidote had been in Fred's trunk, and he threw things out of it as fast as he could. _Maybe this is why we should start labeling our test products_. George threw a purple looking liquid on the floor, and pulled out a hot-pink liquid next. _Bingo!_

"Hermione, come here!" He motioned for her to come forwards as he started walking backwards down the stairs back down to the common room.

"Georgey wants to play?" Hermione smirked. "Here I come…"

George held the bottle ready, aiming to get some of the concoction in her mouth. But Hermione was quick, and pushed him flat on his back onto the floor, and straddled him. "Ready for this?" Hermione asked and forced her face to be right next to his.

George could feel her breath on his cheek. _Oh my god. _Hermione began to kiss his neck, planting short, sweet kisses everywhere. _This is too hot…that just feels…so… wonderful. _Hermione went slower now, working her way up to his lips. _Yessss._ George loved the feeling. _Wait. What am I DOING? _He jerked himself upright, startling Hermione. He forced some of the concoction into her mouth right as her lips met his. He tried to reject at first, but the kiss felt amazing. Pulling her closer, he ran his hands through her hair. He had never felt anything like this before, not with any other girl. The kiss was so pure, so much more innocent and wonderful than anything he had ever experienced in his life---

_Why am I kissing George?!?!_ Hermione pulled herself away, slapping George in the face. "George, what the heck do you think you were doing?"

The portrait door swung open with a loud crash.

"Hermione I love you!"

"Back off Harry, she's mine!"

"I collected the most books, Hermione I have your books!"

"Hermione!"

"Hermione!"

"Hermione!"

"HERMIONE!!"

Glad to have an interruption, George reached across Hermione for the hot pink bottle on the floor. He didn't have an excuse for why he had kissed her. "Quick!" he told her, "Each one of them that comes at you, poor some of this in his mouth."

Hermione nodded and took the bottle from George. Harry was the first to arrive at Hermione. She put on a fake, very sexy smile. "Harry," she said quietly, "come here."

Harry pranced over, thinking he was in for a kiss. Hermione leaned in and at the last moment pulled away, forcing a large amount of the substance down Harry's throat.

"Not so much!" George hissed. "We've got other guys to do too!"

"Hey, this was NOT my fault in the first place George!" But Hermione minded him anyway, not wanting any more attacks. Once each guy had returned to normal, Hermione set the empty bottle on the floor.

"Well that really was fun and all Hermione, but I really should be going. Lots to do, you know-"

"Hold it!" Hermione firmly grabbed his arm. George stopped. "What exactly" Hermione said through gritted teeth "have you all done to me?"

"Nothing but a little prank Hermione, you know-the normal stuff…"

"George Weasley, you are going to pay for this, I swear if you don't-"

"Hey George. I see your feeling like your normal self again Ms. Granger." Fred had walked into the room.

"And you!" Hermione said, now facing Fred. "Why did you do this to me?"

"Me? Never, never ever Hermione!" Fred replied, holding up his hands as if to surrender.

"Who?" was all Hermione could manage to mumble out under her breath. The clock was ticking until her fuse ran out and she blew up on them.

"Well, okay, so it_ was_ us." George said. Fred groaned.

"I knew it!" Hermione's wrath had come out.

"But Harry and Ron were in it too!"

"Sort of." Fred mumbled.

"I'm going to curse all of you," Hermione pulled out her wand. "This is one of the worst things you guys have ever done!"

"Hermione, WAIT!" Fred said, thinking quickly.

"What?!"

"Hogwarts: A History is on fire! In the fireplace, look!" Fred pointed to the fireplace behind her. Hermione turned around to look at the fire. Fred and George turned around and ran out of the common room.

END OF FLASHBACK

* * *

"And that's how I remember all of it. I still cannot BELIEVE you and Fred would do something like this to me. You made Ron so upset; you know how short his temper is."

"Aw, come on. You know it was funny," George smiled.

"No, no it wasn't George." Hermione replied, "but don't worry…I'll get my revenge."

"A threat from Hermione Granger?" George said, backing away from her.

"Just letting you know that I'm not going to let this go without payback." Hermione said matter-of-factly.

_Oh gosh. _George felt so guilty. Hermione didn't know the full prank. It had been Ron's idea all along to do the prank, and he and Fred had gone and messed it up. Before the prank, Ron had come into their room and asked them for a favor. He remembered it all quite clearly.

* * *

FLASHBACK

"Hey Fred, George."

"Hello Ronnie-kins," the twins replied in unison. "Harry," they said, nodding towards the other boy.

"I was wondering something…"

"Oh?" Said Fred.

"And just what can we help you with in your poor, pathetic little life?" George chimed in.

Ron grumbled but ignored their teases, needing a favor. "Would you help me do something? It's kind of a favor but I guess you could call it a prank…" His voice led off, going to a mumble.

Fred perked up. "What was that Ron? A prank involving what exactly?"

"Hermione." Ron replied, turning bright red. "But it's not really a _prank_ per say-"

"Details Ronny, details," Fred said with a smirk.

"Yes, you know we're always willing to help a good cause," George added.

Hearing this, Ron perked up a little. He then confided in his brothers exactly what he wanted to do. He had heard about the twins' newest line of products…love potions. Ron wanted to try one out on Hermione so that she would fall in love with him. He knew that the twins love potions were not out of the testing stage so he had made an agreement with them, saying they could study and analyze what Hermione did during that period of time in exchange for letting him use the potion.

So the twins agreed.

"So you'll slip it in her drink at lunch then?" Ron confirmed.

"Yes, our little lover boy," George said, tugging on Ron's cheek teasingly.

Fred walked over to where Ron was standing next to Harry. "OWW!" Ron bellowed, looking at Fred who was now holding a few hairs belonging to Ron. "What'd you do that for?" Ron asked Fred grumpily, now rubbing at his head.

"You can't expect that girl to fall in love with you just by us giving her a potion!" Fred retorted. "We've gotta mix in your hair to make sure she falls for you and not just the next guy that walks by."

"It's not like she would fall for _you_ as soon as we slip her that potion. She would definitely fall for someone much more handsome." His twin added.

Fred smirked, eyeing his twin. "Being the last Weasley born didn't help your cause Ronnie. By the time Mum had you, she had run out of the gene for good looks, and you got stuck looking the way you are now. It really is a pity..."

Ron scowled but kept his mouth shut, he wanted that potion and he wasn't going to ruin his chances. "Well I want her to have three doses of it, alright?" He pushed.

"Yeah, yeah," George said very bored. "Three days worth should be long enough for even you Ron."

Ron rolled his eyes and thought about Hermione. He figured that by the time those three days were over, he could show Hermione how great a guy he was. Caring, sweet, and very charming. Which of course, he was or so Ron thought. And it wouldn't be hard to show her this at all with her under the effects of the potion. She would love everything he did for three straight days. Hermione would look at him as if he were a god. She would think he was the world and would be lucky to have him if he accepted her. And Ron was hoping that she would feel the same way about all of this after the potion was done and over with. She would jump into his arms at the end of those three days and realize just how perfect she was for him. Hermione would fall in love and he could live with her happily for the rest of their lives. She would come see his Quidditch games, and bake cookies for him all day long. She would have their kids, Ron Jr. of course and maybe even a little girl…

"Ron, stop drooling." Fred said, breaking his thoughts. "Now get out of here, we've got business to attend to." Ron got up and left, Harry trailing behind, before closing the door behind him rather hard.

"So why did we agree to this?" George asked Fred.

"This what?"

"This love potion for Ron."

"We're not doing this for him."

"I didn't think so."

"Good."

"So…"

"So….what?"

"What prank are we pulling on _him?_"

"Oh, that! I'm not sure yet, but I know we can _easily_ make a prank out of this little issue. I'm still shocked that he thought we would actually do something nice for him!" Fred laughed.

"Yeah, what an idiot," George agreed. "Have any ideas?"

"No…" Fred led off. "But that won't last very long."

The room was silent for a few minutes. George spoke "Well, we could just leave it be and laugh at Hermione. Might be fun."

"See Hermione love-struck for three days? That would be fun to see, but no. What do you say…we change things up a bit?" Fred asked, tossing Ron's hair he had collected in a trash can next to the door.

"You know I'm always up for that sort of thing." George replied eagerly. "So what did you have in mind?"

"Without Ron's hair in that potion-'' Fred began,

"Hermione will fall for the first person to walk by her." George finished.

"And _that,_ my dear brother," Fred said, looking at George, "will create pure chaos."

George grinned at his twin, looking forward to the plans ahead of them. "You're brilliant, you know that?"

"I know," Fred said, pretending to wipe away fake tears, "I just…I just don't know where I get the ideas from. It's like they come out of thin air, the inspiration for them."

"_You're_ an inspiration." George said, pretending to ogle over his twin.

END OF FLASHBACK

* * *

George didn't know why he hadn't told Hermione that it was all Ron's idea. Maybe it was that kiss, or maybe he just didn't want to get in even more trouble with her than he already was. She had already called revenge on him, he could only imagine what she would do if she found out that Ron was planning something completely different originally, and they had messed up his plans.

He wasn't sure if he could get his way out of this prank.

A/N: If the flashbacks were a bit confusing to you, read George's flashback first and then Hermione's will make much more sense. Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think.


	5. Don't Get Caught

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews!! Sorry for the long wait. School is hectic. This chapter is rather short, but the next chapter will come a lot sooner because I'm already about halfway done with it. Let me know what you think!

All Over the Place

Chapter 5: Don't Get Caught

It was well past midnight by the time Hermione and George finally made it back to the castle. Approaching the front doors of the school, Hermione wasn't sure what to do. George was a little bit ahead of her, walking nonchalantly as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"George!"

"Yes?" He responded, not even turning around.

"How are we going to get back in? We're out of our beds well after midnight, we're sure to get caught!"

George stopped and turned to face Hermione. She walked up to him to glare. "This is your fault entirely, you know that?" Hermione continued. "If it wasn't for you and your stupid brother, I wouldn't be out here in the first place." She crossed her arms crossly.

George just laughed. "You do know who you're with, don't you?"

"What are you on about?" Hermione asked, getting annoyed.

She did not want to be outside, in the dark, at this time of night. If they got caught, she'd never hear the end of it from Harry and Ron. And she could get detention! That would be awful, what would she do if that happened?

"You're with George Weasley, remember?"

"So what?"

"So…" George replied, putting his arm on her shoulder to try and calm her down a bit, "You're in luck, my dear. We Weasleys happen to know almost every single short cut through the castle here at Hogwarts."

"Well at least that's good one thing to come of those pranks." She muttered.

"Shall we go then?"

"No George, I think we should stay out here tonight. Just let ourselves be caught and whisked away to detention. Of course I want to go! Lead the way!"

"Someone's a little worried about getting caught out after curfew, huh?" George said with a smile.

"You would be too if you weren't a Weasley twin." Hermione frowned.

George laughed. "That's probably true."

The two took various secret passageways all throughout the castle. They ducked behind various statues, and waited for passing teachers to pass in the halls while holding their breath. Hermione did freak out a few times, almost giving themselves away. Slowly, they were able to work their way back up to the seventh floor corridor and appeared behind a statue of an elf.

"And we're back," George grinned. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Yes!" Hermione looked at George, "Okay, well, um, maybe not _that_ bad." She told him, trying to hide a smile. "Hiding from Snape was a little more than intimidating though!"

"That greasy slime ball is stupider than a Pigmy Puff. He never would have found us."

Hermione chuckled at this. "That is a good comparison of him, I think. But we really should get inside now, we're so close, I'd hate to be caught now!"

"It is a shame, isn't it?" Said a high-pitched voice from where the pair was standing, causing both Hermione and George to jump.

Dolores Umbridge's body slowly appeared out of thin air as she removed her invisibility cloak. She walked towards them, a smirk crossing her toad-like face.

"Didn't think we would be getting caught out of bed so late, did we?" She asked them smugly, leisurely circling them. "Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley, I must admit I did not think I would find you two alone together. I was expecting the normal trio to be mustering up the trouble tonight."

"Professor-"

"Hush!" was Umbridge's only response.

"So why are we out of our dormitories tonight?"

Hermione bit her lip in worry.

"What are you planning?"

No response.

"Are you working with Dumbledore?"

No response.

"One week of detention," Umbridge said smiling. "Now what are you plotting?!" She demanded.

"We're not plotting anything." George answered lazily, rolling his eyes. "It's not anything serious."

"I see…" Said Professor Umbridge, she paused for a moment. A smile appeared on her face. "Young love, is it? Out for a romantic encounter so late at night!"

George snorted. Hermione even let out a slight noise resembling somewhat of a chuckle.

The professor's face fell. "You think this is funny Mr. Weasley? Ms Granger?"

George and Hermione both straightened themselves, attempting to look serious.

"I think another week of detention ought to do the trick." Umbridge said.

"But professor, we didn-"

"I said to HUSH Ms. Granger!" Dolores said loudly, losing her composure momentarily. She straightened down the pink nightgown she had on, also taking a moment to adjust her pink night cap, and turned to the portrait of the fat lady.

"Wish bones." Umbridge said promptly. The Fat Lady swung her portrait open immediately, not saying a word.

"Get in." Umbridge pointed towards the opening. "And I will see you both in detention with me tomorrow evening at 8:00 sharp! Goodnight!"

George and Hermione got into the common room as quick as they could and the portrait closed behind them with a loud click. George started to laugh right away while Hermione sunk into a rather uncomfortable arm chair.

"George would you stop it?" Hermione complained. "We just got detention for two whole weeks!" She groaned.

"I'm sorry, I just can't help it." George said smiling.

"I still don't see how you can be laughing at a time like this. And I'm a prefect! I am sure that I can kiss that good bye. I'll never get a good job at the ministry now. We were so close to not getting caught!"

George just laughed some more.

"What a day." Hermione sighed, and then turned to look at George. "At least fill me in on what's so funny."

"Hermione, do you not remember her comment about our romantic evening together?"

Hermione snorted. "Okay, so that part was amusing but still, two whole weeks of detention!"

George came over to where Hermione was sitting. "Hey, it won't be that bad. It'll probably just be writing lines or scrubbing some quidditch trophies into the early hours of the night, right?"

"Yeah…"

"And besides…" George grinned, "We'll be all alone..." George inched his face closer to Hermione's.

"You and your jokes George Weasley!" Hermione couldn't keep in her smirk.

"All alone together." George replied, now very close to her face.

Hermione felt awkward. This was George. Oh gosh, he was so cute. And he didn't know that she liked him. He wouldn't like a girl like her. He was just being his usual self. If he knew that she had a crush on him, despite the cruel joke he and the others had played on her, she would never hear the end of it. _Back away Hermione. Pull yourself together._

"Okay George, I'm going to bed now." She said, standing up rather quickly.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid! _George kicked himself mentally. What was he thinking? That he'd get another kiss from Hermione Granger? Yeah right. _She would never like someone like you. _Hermione would never like him. He broke the rules. He got into trouble. He wasn't a prefect. He didn't have the grades. He was a _prankster_.

"Err-right." George said, running a hand through his red hair. He glanced at her. Their eyes met for a second before both looked at the floor.

_Those beautiful blue eyes. _Oh shut up already! He doesn't like you. He would never like you. You're too much of a bookworm for him anyway. _It's just a stupid schoolgirl crush. You're supposed to be mad at him, remember? For pranking you?_ But Hermione couldn't find the anger she had held earlier.

"Well, goodnight George."

"Night Hermione."

George watched Hermione as she walked up the stairs. After she was out of sight, he slouched onto a nearby couch, not really wanting to make his way up to the dormitory quite yet. He sighed. He couldn't have a crush on her, could he? No, definitely not. He barely even knew her. Yes, she was pretty, but she wasn't like the typical beauties that walked around school. He liked them…right? He couldn't like Hermione. No. No! Hermione didn't wear short skirts, or low-cut tops. She read books and bossed people around. So _why_ was he having these feelings for her??

Groaning, George put his feet up on a nearby couch and dozed off, thinking about a certain someone.

A/N: So not much happened. But I needed to establish some type of feelings between Hermione and George. The next chapter is more interesting I think. Oh, and I also stated that this would be a Fred/Hermione story. I still stand on that. Fred just won't come in for a chapter or two more as a main character, and 'stuff' between Fred and Hermione won't start happening till probably around Chapter Nine. I don't want to give away much more than that. So just hold tight till then and I promise it'll turn out alright. Thanks again for reading! Let me know what you think!


	6. A Little Too Much Detention

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. I have a really hectic life. But I only have to edit Chapter 7 before I put it up, and I am half way through writing Chapter 8…so the good news is that I'll have Chapter Seven up by tomorrow! And hopefully 8 will be up rather soon after that. Thanks so much for the lovely reviews, I appreciate them ;D

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The wonderful J.K. Rowling does.

All Over the Place

Chapter 6: A Little Too Much Detention

"Wow."

"Hmm?" George asked as he turned to face Hermione, letting the rag he was holding drop back into the large bucket of soapy water next to him.

"You're here!"

"Yes, yes I am." George beamed.

"I know…" Hermione shook her head, pretending to be in awe, "It's just…you're here on time!"

He laughed. "I can be on time when I want to."

"And you're here before me too," Hermione continued. "Is, is this real?" She pinched herself lightly on the arm, then looked down at where George was on his knees next to the Quidditch Trophies Case.

"No Hermione, you're not dreaming." George smiled.

Hermione laughed. "So why are you here early anyways?"

"I wanted to surprise you." He said.

"Yeah right."

"Seriously!"

"Doubt it."

George threw his hands up in exasperation and ran his hands threw his long, red hair. "Okay, so maybe that isn't quite true…but you were surprised!"

"That I was," Hermione said as she walked towards him.

Kneeling down next to George, she dunked her left hand down into the warm, soapy water and withdrew with a large, red rag. She then reached over to pick up a plague inscribed "Ernie Habbay: Hufflepuff Seeker of 1962" and began to scrub away.

George watched her smile fade away from the conversation moments ago into a look of pure determination. She looked so serious, even while doing something as simple as cleaning.

"Why are you grinning?" Hermione looked at George awkwardly, wiping a lone strand of hair that had fallen from her pony tail away from her face. George noticed as she blushed, she not knowing what to do with him staring right at her.

"Am I?" George replied, coming out of his daze. _Stop staring at her! She's going to think you're a complete idiot if you keep this up._

"You're still staring at me." Hermione said, breaking George's thoughts. "Do I have something on my face? Please don't tell me I have a booger or something!" She turned away from him towards the floor with her hands covering most of her face.

"No," George said, taking her hands away from her face and holding them in his._Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Now she thinks there's something wrong with her. _He tried to get his mind refocused on cleaning and on Quidditch trophies. _She has such small hands, they're so soft. Stop thinking about her! Why can't you just be normal?_

"It's nothing like that. I'm sorry. I must have dazed off or something." He lied before letting go of Hermione's hands slowly and picking up a light colored rag, continuing to scrub a trophy very hard.

They scrubbed away for a few minutes, neither one talking. Hermione glanced at George, and she noticed how hard he was scrubbing.

"I don't think there's any dust left on that trophy." Hermione smirked, watching George.

He scrubbed harder for a moment and the head of the person on the trophy broke off, softly tumbling to the floor with a light clanking noise. "Damn it," he muttered with a sigh.

Hermione noticed something was bothering George but she wasn't quite sure what it was. Why had he been staring at her? She knew that he had seen the blush creep up her face and spread across her pale complexion. She had to be careful or he would start to figure out that she liked him._Oh gosh._ She liked him. And she knew that he didn't like her back. Why would he? She couldn't blame him. She was two years younger. She wasn't pretty enough. She was bossy. She was his brother's best friend. She could go on for hours with reasons of why he didn't like her. She had analyzed it many times in the past five weeks and every time, she came to the same conclusion: George Weasley did not and would not ever like her.

She sighed, and continued polishing the plaque she was holding. "So you never told me why you're here on time today." She said, trying to clear the air.

George could tell that Hermione knew something was bothering him. He had just broken off the head of a Quidditch trophy, something had to be wrong. But he could not let Hermione know that it was _her_ that was getting to him. If she knew that he liked her, he couldn't even imagine what she would do. He didn't want to even try to imagine the reaction he would get from herLaughter possibly? Or yelling? All he knew was that she would not feel the same way.He liked Hermione. And she didn't like him. This was just great.

She had just asked him a question. _Crap. What did she just say? Something about…oh, why was I on time today? _Glad to have something to talk about, George answered, "Well, I didn't want any more detention." Hermione nodded, not turning her attention away from the plaque she was cleaning. "To tell you the truth," George grinned mischievously, "Once you get around to having five weeks of detention for being late every day, it really does make you want to be punctual."

Hermione shook her head, muttering to herself so that George couldn't hear.

"Come again?" George asked.

"I'm just glad you've decided to end all of this." She responded.

George felt a pang guilt. He had come into detention late the first couple of times because he and Fred had been working on new pranks and he was too preoccupied to care about detention. But then Umbridge had started to give Hermione and himself more detentions. Another detention every time he was late. And he was beginning to find himself enjoying the detentions with Hermione. He enjoyed the conversations they shared. He found himself listening to Hermione, and actually being interested in what she had to say. She truly was the smartest witch of her age, and he had to admit to himself that he looked forward to spending time with her each night-even if that meant scrubbing Quidditch trophies until his hands went numb.

But he couldn't tell Hermione that. She would think he was a jerk. That he had been coming to detention late on purpose just so he could spend more time with her? _Bloody hell, you are one messed up git. You are forcing this girl, who has much better things to do with her time than spend time with you, to come to detention every night for an extra three weeks just so you can ogle over her each night. Ridiculous!_

He knew he needed to apologize to her for this. It wasn't fair to Hermione. She hadn't complained even once about him being late and receiving all of the extra detentions. She hadn't protested to Umbridge that she was on time, even though he never was. She had accepted the extra punishment with him without even saying a word. She had been such a good sport about it the entire time, and the least he could do was apologize.

"The thing is Hermione…it wasn't fair to you either. You were here every day on time, doing what Umbridge asked of us, and I wasn't. That wasn't fair to you in the least bit. You've had to endure three more weeks of detention than you deserve because of me. I bet that really made you mad, and I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay George, don't worry about it." Hermione smiled warmly at him.

_If he only knew that I enjoyed spending that time with him. How I liked being able to see him every night, being able to talk to him. _She had come to find that George really was a fascinating person to talk to. She could have an intelligent conversation with him, unlike ones that she had with Harry or Ron. He may be a rule-breaker and a prankster, but he definitely wasn't stupid. At all. He knew exactly what he was talking about and he surprised her with the amount of information that he did know about all sorts of things.

But she couldn't let him know that she had enjoyed spending that extra time with him. If he found out, then he would understand why she enjoyed spending time with him. He would find out that she liked him. And that would not be good in the slightest sense.

"The detentions are all over now so it doesn't matter," she lied. "After tonight we'll be done so you won't have to worry about coming here anymore anyways."

_Did Hermione's voice sound a little sad when she said that? _No, it definitely couldn't have. He was just being hopeful. George couldn't think about anything but that kiss that had happened a little over five weeks ago. All he could think about was Hermione, and it was starting to drive him a little nutty. After tonight, he wouldn't get to see Hermione anymore as much. Sure, he would still see in between classes maybe if he was passing her in the halls, and he would be sure to try and grab a seat next to her in the Great Hall every once in a while but they wouldn't be alone together anymore. He wouldn't have any more one on one time with her, to just hear her talk and listen to her voice. And he was finally admitting to himself that he would miss it. He regretted the detentions finally coming to an end.

They had both been scrubbing for a while now, finishing off a complete case of Quidditch trophies and plaques. Both absorbed in their thoughts, they were startled to hear the high pitched voice of Professor Umbridge saying from the doorway, "You may go to bed now. It is 12:00. And as we seem to have learned our lesson about being on time Mr. Weasley, this will be the last detention you two will be having. I have no doubts however that you will be here again very soon. If it takes five weeks to get one punishment through, the next one I am guessing will take much, much longer." Umbridge smirked, staring eerily at the pair. "Goodnight."

Hermione and George could hear the toadish woman's pink shoes click-clacking away as she made her way down the corridor, getting farther away from them with each step. They turned to look at each other and smirked, both knowing what the other one was thinking about Umbridge.

Hermione had in fact lightened up since the beginning of the detentions. She felt more at ease around George, and she agreed with him about some things. Especially Umbridge. She hadn't been willing to admit it to herself at first, but Umbridge really was a cruel, nasty little woman. And she had found herself joking around about the professor with George and laughing at his comments about Umbridge as well.

She knew that George couldn't like her-that was just too silly. But there was no harm in being friends…right? He always seemed so happy and cheery around her. And she felt the same way around him. So he must at least enjoy the conversations he had with her. She had to let him know that she wanted to continue their friendship now that the detention was over. She couldn't bear to not see him every day. _You like him for goodness sakes. Of course you want to see him every day. You want to more than see him every day, you want to be his girlfriend! _

Hermione snapped herself away from her thoughts and shook her head to clear her cluttered mind.

"Alright?" George asked as he took out his wand to clear away their cleaning supplies now that they were finished.

"Yeah." Hermione said softly, busying herself with her hands. _Come on Hermione, just say it. It's not that big of a deal. You just want to be friends. If he doesn't want to be friends, then you'll get over it. You'll just stay in the library with your books and be just fine. Eventually you'll forget about him and it won't matter anymore. And if he does want to be friends, then that'll be wonderful and you'll still get to see him._

"You know what?" George asked her suddenly.

Hermione turned to look at George directly as she tried to decide if she should say anything. "No, what?"

"This has been fun. Us hanging out and all. I know it's been detention but you're actually pretty cool to talk to when no one else is around Granger," George flashed her a grin.

_He did like these five weeks! He would definitely want to be friends. He thinks the exact same thing I do!_ Hermione only smiled and nodded back, too excited to respond.

_That's not the response I was hoping for._ George frowned to himself. Hermione hadn't even spoken when he had said he liked hanging out with her. That had hurt a little bit. He was hoping she would say it was fun too, and she was glad that they had their detentions together. But he hadn't gotten even a word out of her. She probably hated him for forcing her to be here for so much extra time each night.

"I'll let you go to bed." George started walking towards the door. "We should probably get back to the common room. I don't want to force you to stay here any longer than we have to. The five weeks is finally over for you." He said, pretending to be cheery.

There was an awkward silence as they walked back towards the common room. Normally they would be laughing and excited to be finally done with detention for the night. But not tonight, they both weren't quite sure of what to say so they walked quietly all the way up to the seventh floor.

As soon as they got into the common room, George turned right towards the boys' dormitories as Hermione turned left towards the girls. He was on the second step when he felt a hand on his right shoulder stop him.

"Hey George?" He heard Hermione say, and he turned around so he was facing her.

"What's up?" He grinned.

"I…I just wanted to say that I had fun during the detentions too. And I hope we can be friends still even though their over."

George's heart jumped a little. _Yes!!! She wants to be friends! FRIENDS! It's not boyfriend and girlfriend or anything but hey, we're going to be friends!!_ Realizing that he was standing in front of her with a grin plastered on his face like an idiot not saying anything, he responded. "That sounds good Granger."

Hermione smiled happily. "I'm glad."

A/N: I'll have Chapter 7 up tomorrow and let me know what you think about Chapter 6! Thanks for reading.


	7. Hogwarts Grounds

A/N: So here's Chapter Seven. I finished Chapter Eight and all that's left is editing so it should be up anywhere in the next 24 hours. Like I've said before, I promise it's going to be a Fred/Hermione story even though it may not seem like it now. I just feel like there needs to be some decent George/Hermione chapters first in the storyline. If I don't do some George/Hermione first, then the story won't have the same effect I want it to when Fred finally comes into the story. So Fred/Hermione probably won't show up till Chapter 11 or 12 now that I have a good outline of what I'm going to be doing. But if you stick with me, I guarantee you it'll be worth the wait. ;D

Thanks for the reviews, the three of you always review and I really appreciate feedback on the story. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The wonderful J.K. Rowling does.

All Over the Place

Chapter Seven: Hogwarts Grounds

Two weeks had passed since the detentions had ended but Hermione and George were still seeing just as much of each other. And other people were beginning to notice the friendship too. Fred found himself looking for "new testers" for their joke products by himself while George was off with Hermione. The friendship was going quite well, and George and Hermione were both secretly thrilled about it. 

"Hermione! Wait up!" 

"Hey Harry," Hermione said as she kept walking down the hall towards the front doors leading to the grounds.

"Where are you going?"

"Library," she lied, walking on.

"Where have you been? I felt like it's been weeks since I've seen you at breakfast." Harry ran a few steps so he could walk beside Hermione.

Hermione inwardly blushed. She knew why she hadn't been at breakfast lately. It was because she and George had been taking long walks on the grounds outside every morning, just taking time to talk. She felt like she could tell George almost anything, he certainly was becoming one of her best friends, and quickly. A few months ago, she never would have guessed that George Weasley would be her crush, not to mention good friend as well. But now everything was changing around her. 

The feelings she thought she may have had for Ron were gone, and she had determined they were nothing more than a spur of the moment thing. Sure, she had liked him in fourth year for a bit, but it was only a slight crush, and they had grown older now. Her interests had changed and so had his, at least she thought so. Ron was still very protective of Hermione, and any boy that came within a few yards of Hermione was sent dagger eyes and glares. But he had always been like that, and she assumed her best friend was just trying to look out for her. He was being his normal Ron-like self when he did that. He was one of her best friends and that was all he really would ever be. 

"Earth to Hermione-" Harry waved his hand in front of Hermione's face, grinning. "What are you thinking about?" He smirked. "Whenever I see you lately, which hasn't been much, you've been daydreaming or not paying attention at all. What has gotten into you?"

"Nothing," she lied. "I've just been busy, lots to think about with O.W.L.'s coming up at the end of this school year."

Harry seemed to buy the lie, as he laughed saying, "Hermione, exams aren't for nearly another six and a half months. Don't worry about them already, alright?"

Hermione nodded, looking at the floor. 

"Come and join me for breakfast. We better hurry before Ron eats the entire Great Hall out." Harry said, steering them both towards the Great Hall.

"I would Harry, but I have a book that I really need to check out. I don't want anyone else to get to it before me or-"

"Alright, alright." Harry cut her off, understanding her love of books. "But come eat with us soon, okay? We really miss seeing you every day."

"Okay, I promise." Hermione smiled, glad Harry was leaving her alone. She waited until he had went around the corner and was out of sight till she headed off towards the grounds again. 

Why was she lying? Was spending time with George in the mornings really this important to her? _Yes! It is. _She was beginning to like spending time with George rather than with Harry and Ron, or Ginny. And she was lying to her friends for what? A crush she had on some boy? A boy she wasn't even going out with. _You're pathetic. Lying to your friends so you can spend time with George? The boy doesn't even like you for goodness sake. Get a grip Hermione. _She sighed. Hermione knew she shouldn't be lying to her friends about George. She didn't even know _why_ she was lying to her friends about George. They were just friends, nothing was going on. It wasn't as if they were sneaking out to make out in a broom closet every time they got a chance. _But that'd be nice._ _Oh, stop it!_ So if they were just friends, why was she keeping George all to herself? Harry and Ron wouldn't mind if she and George were becoming friends. Ginny wouldn't either. She wouldn't admit it to herself, but Hermione knew the reason she was really keeping George to herself. That reason was because she wanted to be more than just friends with George, she wanted to be his girlfriend. And she didn't want anyone else to know it.

Hermione picked up her pace as she got to the front doors leading to the grounds. She pushed open one and walked down the steps a little too fast for her liking, which resulted in her tripping and landing with a soft thud on the grass. 

She heard laughter behind her and turned around halfway to look at who was there. 

"Nice fall Granger. Did Weasley or Potter teach you how to do that?" 

She didn't even have to look. "Malfoy." She muttered under her breath, on her knees and brushing off her robes. 

"Don't you have someplace to be?" She asked, frowning at him. 

"I did, but I think I rather like it out here." He replied, walking a little closer to her. "You can see all the _mudbloods_ you want trip and fall out here like idiots over and over again."

"How dare you!" Hermione started towards him, but she felt someone brush past her, and make their way over to Malfoy quicker than she was going. All she was seeing was a flutter of red hair and black school robes. So it was a Weasley, but which one?

The Weasley shoved Malfoy on to the ground hard. The Slytherin looked a bit panicked, wondering what else was going to happen. But as soon as the look of panic appeared, it disappeared just as quickly. 

"Don't you _ever_ call Hermione a name like that again." The Weasley said coldly. 

Malfoy got up quickly, brushing off the dirt from his robes and sneered at Hermione and the Weasley. "She's your girlfriend now, is it?" He laughed, "Typical of a Weasley. Associating with that type." He was walking towards the front doors now, getting ready to go back inside. "And I thought your family could sink no lower." He added before dashing inside. 

"That little git!" The Weasley turned around, revealing himself to be George.

"Hey Hermione," he said, coming over to her, "I'm sorry about that. I only heard the last thing that he said but he didn't do anything to you, did he? Because if he did, I know a lot of Weasleys I can gather up to go chase down that slimeball." He said, flashing the famous Weasley grin.

"No, I'm alright." She said, smiling up at his towering six foot two frame._He pushed Malfoy on the ground for me! That was so nice of him. And brave. Oh no. But this definitely won't help me stop liking him. But he stood up for me! That was SO NICE! _Hermione beamed at him. "Thanks still though. I appreciate the thought."

"Anytime. Any Weasley would stand up for you, you're practically family." He said warmly, scratching behind his ear. "But have you seen George? I knew he'd be walking around out here with you and I needed to ask him a quick question about a new joke product we're working on right now. I was hoping to find him…" He finished, now scanning the grounds looking for George.

_George? Why is he talking about George? If he's not George, then this must be..oh Fred. _"Nope I haven't seen him, I had just came out here when Malfoy showed up." Hermione answered.

"Any reason why I just saw Malfoy speed by me a few moments ago?" George asked from behind them, coming down the steps. 

"He was being a complete jerk towards Hermione." Fred informed him. 

George's face darkened, "What did he do?" 

Hermione interrupted. "George I'm fine, don't worry."

"I told you we Weasleys had your back," Fred said, chuckling at the expression on George's face.

"No tell me, what did he do?" George demanded. "Did he hurt you Hermione, I swear-I can go-"

"George, it's okay." Hermione assured him. George started walking back towards the school, looking like he was going to find Malfoy. Hermione smiled at him and George calmed down a bit. But he still slightly leaned inside the school doors looking around for Malfoy, mumbling to himself.

"Well I'll let you guys go on your walk," Fred said loudly enough for George to hear, and then whispered to Hermione, "Don't worry about him being this upset. You're all he talks about since that detention started. I think he likes you Granger." Fred winked at her and started walking inside. He pushed his brother away from the front doors and stopped. "Oh, when you get a chance George, I need to talk to you about the Spig-Nott testing."

"Okay," George agreed, walking towards Hermione and they started walking around the lake. 

But Hermione's mind was spinning. Had Fred just said..? No, she must have been dreaming. He couldn't of said that. No, there was no possible way. But why would Fred have said that if George didn't like her. No! No! No! There was no possible way George could like her. They were just friends. She wanted it to be more than friends but George didn't. Or so she thought. Fred had said-

"Hey," George said, putting a hand on the small of her back to get her attention. This breaking Hermione's thoughts caused her to jump a little. George noticed this and he frowned. "Is the whole Malfoy thing still bothering you? Because if it is just tell me and I swear-"

Hermione laughed. "No George, it's not that."

"Then is something wrong."

"No."

"Then what's up? I can tell something's going on Hermione…"

Hermione felt a blush creeping up her face once more. She couldn't let on what was bothering her. That would just be embarrassing and…she couldn't let George know what she was thinking about. Putting on a fake smile, she looked up at him. "Nothing's wrong. I swear. What's up with you?"

George didn't think that she was telling the truth. But he wouldn't push it. If she didn't want to talk about it for now, then he would give her some space. He decided to move on to a new topic.

"Well I have something for you." He grinned.

"A surprise?" Hermione's eyes lit up. But then they dulled and the smile disappeared off her face. "Hold on, it's not another surprise prank is it?"

George chuckled in amusement at the look on her face. "No, nothing like that. I promise." 

Hermione seemed to relax a little. "Then what is it?"

"Well me and Fred just finished one of our latest products," he explained. "And it's been tested and everything so don't worry!" he said quickly as he noticed her eyes widening. "But I was wondering if you'd like to have one with me."

"With you?" Hermione looked confused. "Have what with you?"

"This necklace." George pulled out a small, gold necklace with a small inscription at the bottom. Hermione took it from him and held it up to the sunlight to read out "Prankster."

"Prankster?" She questioned him.

"I'm a prankster." He shrugged. "That's all I could think of at the moment."

"So what exactly does this do?" Hermione asked curiously.

"I figured that since I played a trick on you," he paused, "that if you ever need help with any situation or anything else you can think of, all you have to do is twirl the necklace in your fingertips around four times and I'll be there to help you."

"Really?" Hermione looked impressed. "It can do that?"

"Yeah." George grinned. "Pretty useful, eh?"

"I'll give you credit for a great idea, sure." Hermione answered. "But I don't get one thing."

"What's that?"

"Why does it say prankster on it?"

"Oh! The person you're 'calling' when you twirl the necklace has to be described in one word on the necklace in order for it to work. I chose my word to be prankster so that's why it's on there."

"I see now." Hermione said, slipping the necklace over her head. "Thank you." She beamed up at him.

_I love her smile._George thought of something else suddenly. "Oh and one more thing," he smirked at her. When you twirl the necklace for my help, you have to say the following words or it won't work. Not loud enough for anyone else to hear but they have to be clear. Okay?"

"Okay. What are they?"

"I need the help of a very handsome prankster." 

Hermione hit him in the arm playfully. "George! I should have known you would put something like that on one of your products."

"Pretty creative in my opinion." George said, smiling at Hermione.

"Well…even though it is kind of ridiculous," Hermione paused. 

_She doesn't like it. I knew it was a stupid idea. Why did I do that! Why did I make a necklace like that for her when she doesn't even like it. She just thinks it's stupid. _George kicked himself mentally. 

"I really like it. Thank you, it's nice." Hermione finished, pulling him in for a hug.

_She does like it! And I got a hug! A really GOOD hug! Ooh, she smells really good. Like strawberries. And she's smiling that smile again. The happy one. The one that makes her look all cute and sweet and.._

"Um George? You can let go now." Hermione said from underneath his grasp. 

He let go of her immediately . "Sorry," he said embarrassed while moving away from her. 

A/N: Let me know what you think! I have a lot of free time this week so I'm going to try and use it to my advantage and crank out a chapter every day or two. But Chapter 8 will be up sometime very soon, like I said above. Thanks for reading, R&R ;D


	8. A Very Handsome Prankster

A/N: Chapter Eight! Chapter Nine will be up by Friday at the latest.

Thanks so much for the lovely reviews. I appreciate them so much! ;D

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The wonderful J.K. Rowling does.

All Over the Place

Chapter Eight: A Very Handsome Prankster

-----One Week Later-----

_Potions class. Yuck._ _And why do we always have to have it with the Slytherins? _Ron hated potions class. As he looked around the room, he noticed he wasn't the only one. A decent amount of Gryffindors were simply staring off into space which indicated that they were daydreaming. Slytherins passed notes back and forth as Snape lectured on how to make Euphoria, a new potion that was supposed to bring on joy and exhilaration in the drinker of the potion if the potion was done effectively.

"However, side effects will occur if the potion is stirred too long," Professor Snape looked at Neville. "Or made incorrectly." Neville gulped.

"Ron, pay attention!" Hermione whispered to him, not taking her eyes off Snape for even a moment. "This potion's very difficult to make, and you'd better start paying attention now or you're going to end up with another D on this assignment."

Ron let out a short grunt and lifted his head off his desk, where he had been lying quite comfortably. 

"When finished, it should turn out to be a very bright, yellow color." Snape said lazily. He pointed his wand at the chalkboard , and with a swish of his wand, a list of ingredients appeared along with the instructions. "You have one hour. You may begin."

"Hurry up Ron!" Hermione said frustrated. She looked at Ron still seated sluggishly on his seat. "He said to add peppermint if we didn't want the side effects to occur and I know there are not enough peppermints up there for everyone in this class. Hurry up if you want to your potion to turn out right!"

Ron slowly slid out his chair, taking his time. 

"Oh forget it; you can make your potion on your own then. Good luck!" She dismissed the subject and scurried off to get started while Ron whined from behind her. 

Having finished gathering all of her ingredients, Hermione took a seat next to a shy Gryffindor named Victoria Frobisher. She knew she wouldn't be bothered next to Victoria, the girl never said a word to anyone. Hermione had wondered from time to time why the girl had been placed in Gryffindor. She had never seen an act of bravery or courage from the girl at all. 

"Hello Victoria," Hermione said to the girl, giving her a quick smile.

Victoria only nodded, and then turned her attention back to the instructions written on the chalkboard on the front of the room.

Hermione liked working with Ron and Harry; they were her best friends after all. Nonetheless, it was nice every once in a while to be able to do the work all on her own. No one asking her constantly what ingredient needed to be stirred in and which one had to be sliced and cut up first. She knew what to do and when she worked by herself, there were no distractions. 

Fifty-five minutes into the class, Hermione was satisfied with the concoction that was in cauldron below her on the table. It had just turned the sunshiny yellow Professor Snape described and she knew that she had followed all of the directions exactly right. 

"Have a good time with your boyfriend the other day?" A cold voice came from behind her.

Hermione had swerved around in an instant. Malfoy was not going to play this game with her today. 

"He is _not _my boyfriend." She clenched her teeth. She also noticed Victoria taking a fleeting look at the exchange going on between Malfoy and herself.

"Oh really? Prove it." Malfoy challenged.

"I don't have to prove anything to you Malfoy," Hermione answered angrily.

He was such a stupid jerk. But she was in Snape's class; she wouldn't do anything to him here. Knowing Snape, he would take Malfoy's side in an instant and she would be left to detention with Umbridge again for who knows how long. She turned back around in her seat, and waited for her potion to be done.

As soon as the Euphoria had reached a boil, Hermione took a vial and emptied her entire potion into it. She heard something drop on the floor behind her and turned around to see what it was. Malfoy's quill had dropped off the front of his desk, landing on the floor directly behind her. She decided to ignore it.

Moments later she could hear Malfoy coming around to the front of his desk to pick up the quill. He bent down, acting like he was going to grasp onto the pen. While at knee-level, he leaned in closer to Hermione and whispered, " I believe you Granger. Why would he want to date a_mudblood like you_ anyway?" 

By the time Hermione had swerved around in her seat and was up on her feet facing Malfoy, the Slytherin was already backing himself into his seat, acting as if nothing had happened. 

"Something the matter Granger?" He smirked, noticing Professor Snape looking their way.

"You disgusting!-horrible little!-"

"You're just a filthy, little mudblood." He replied, uttering the words in only a whisper. But Hermione heard it, and her fist collided with the boy's right cheek almost immediately. 

Malfoy let out a cry of pain and fell to the floor on his knees, knocking his Euphoria potion off his desk on the way down to the floor. Professor Snape strode over to the two, pulling Malfoy up on his feet and facing Hermione. 

"Ms. Granger!" He looked at her cruelly. She could tell he was enjoying this. "Not only did you break the rules today but you also managed to break Mr. Malfoy's potion in the process, and may have broken his jaw as well." Malfoy was covering his face, trying to avoid showing the growing bruise now beginning to form on his face. Through his arms, Hermione could still see his eyes, and she could see the smirk on his face. She had done what he had wanted her to do all along. He had wanted her to lose her temper and do something like this. Why didn't she see the signs? Nothing would have happened if she wouldn't have let him get to her. If she would have stayed calm and not let him bother her, everything would be fine. Why couldn't she have just kept her temper?

Snape continued. "You will give Mr. Malfoy your potion since you seem to have broken his, and will receive a zero on this assignment. Furthermore-" Malfoy let out a whimper of pain and Snape turned his attention to the Slytherin. 

"Oh really, Mr. Malfoy, I am sure it doesn't hurt enough to make an entire scene." Malfoy let his face be uncovered where massive boils were now starting to cover his entire face. They were getting redder by the second and growing larger in size.

"Placed a jinx on him as well, did we?" Snape eyed Hermione. 

"I didn't do that!" Hermione outburst. She hadn't done anything to him but hit him. No magic, no wand, no nothing. She had used muggle violence, punching him square in the face. So why were there very hideous and large boils popping up all over Malfoy's face?

"You mean to tell me you didn't cast this charm on Mr. Malfoy?"

"No sir!"

"A likely story." He walked the boy over to where another Slytherin was sitting and started instructing him to take Malfoy to the infirmary. Hermione knew that when the professor made his way back to her table, she would receive weeks, maybe even months of detention. She had to do something, and fast. But what? She couldn't just leave. That would just get her in more trouble. Hermione looked over to the area where Harry and Ron were sitting. Harry gave her a sympathetic look, as if trying to say he knew there was no way around this but he would have done the same thing in her situation. Ron simply gave her a thumbs-up and grinned, obviously very pleased with the punch Malfoy had received in the face. That was typical of Ron. No regard for her feelings or how she was going to have to suffer because of it. Just a thumbs-up and that was all.

Snape was writing a note for Malfoy to go see Madam Pomfrey. He would be back at her side in a minute, and she wasn't about to go back to having detention every night again. She hated it. Snape might even try to expel her. She couldn't imagine that! Hermione glanced down at her wand, considering for only a millisecond about using it on her teacher._Yeah right. If only I could._ But as her eyes came back up, she noticed a glint of gold. _OF COURSE! _The necklace George had given her! 

"I need the help of a very handsome prankster." She mumbled, twisting the necklace in her fingertips hoping something would happen. She looked up, expecting to see George, but he wasn't there, only the staring eyes of all her classmates. She had, after all, punched Draco Malfoy._George didn't show up. I guess this thing doesn't work after all._ Hermione sighed.

Snape motioned with hand for Malfoy and the other Slytherin to leave and turned his attention back to Hermione. "As I was saying before Ms. Granger, you will receive a zero for the potion you have ruined and I think a bit more punishment is in order. I would say-"

"Excuse me? Sir?"

Snape looked up at the door, upset that he had been interrupted. "Yes…Weasley!"

_George! He's really here! _Hermione's mind screamed with happiness. It had worked, George showed up, and surprisingly, the product had worked too!

"Hermione's head of house, Professor McGonagall, is aware of the spell Ms. Granger placed on Mr. Malfoy moments ago. She requests that Ms. Granger be sent to her office straight away to be severely disciplined for this act of disrespect and fury. 

Snape looked at George for a few seconds, taking in what he had said. He didn't say anything, just stared at George.

"Professor McGonagall said she wanted to see Ms. Granger in her office right now and is so upset at Ms. Granger that if she doesn't come immediately things will get even worse."

Snape looked pleased at this. Hermione would be getting punished and with a little luck, maybe even expelled.

"Very well. Ms. Granger," he turned to Hermione, "Take your things and get out."

Hermione glanced at George as she gathered her things, very eager to leave the room. He was simply watching her intently with a serious look on his face. He looked solemn, and maybe even a bit angry. _He's not here to rescue me. He's here to take me to McGonagall's office._ McGonagall was better than Snape but Hermione knew her teacher would still be disappointed in her all the same. Hermione knew that the transfiguration teacher could yell, scream, and hand out some nasty punishments too. This was turning out to be a very bad day. 

Once they had exited the classroom and were out of hearing distance from the dungeons, George turned to Hermione. "Pretty good, huh?" 

"No! I am in so much trouble! He just made me so mad, that Malfoy deserved it!" Hermione was freaking out. How was she going to explain all of this to McGonagall? "And I did not put those boils on his face. I do not know who did, but it was definitely not me!"

"But I got you out of it," George started to say.

"Yeah, you did, but now I have to go see McGonagall!" Hermione looked more than upset.

George laughed. "You didn't realize I made all of that up?"

"George this is no time for jokes! I need to come up with an explanation for McGonagall and-"

"Hermione, _I made it all up_." George grinned at Hermione.

Hermione stopped walking and looked at George. She thought about it for a moment, decided she believed him, and then relaxed. "Thank you so much!" She laughed, giving George a big smile, and then throwing herself into him for a hug. 

George laughed as he hugged her. She had thought she was going to McGonagall for real. The poor girl, it must have been driving her nutty. He glanced down at her, seeing how happy she was. She gave such good hugs. He really liked her hugs. A lot. And it made him want to kiss her.

Hermione backed away from him and started chattering about how worried she had been and how he had looked so serious she was positive she was heading straight to McGonagall's office. George was only half listening.

She was so close to him. He could just lean down and kiss her. He could lean down and do it right now. _But what would she think?_ _How would she react? Would she be okay with it?_ She looked so cute. He liked her so much. _What the heck, the worst she can do is curse me into oblivion if I try._

George bent down quickly and kissed her gently on the lips, stopping Hermione mid-sentence. She didn't respond at first, in shock from George's sudden movement. The kiss was short, and after a moment Hermione blushed bright red and stepped back.

"What was that for?" Hermione asked shyly. _He kissed me! He kissed me! He kissed me! He kissed me! _

"Thanks for letting me save you." George responded, stepping closer to her. 

"Anytime." Hermione smiled. _He kissed me! But does that mean he likes me? He has to, he kissed me! And said he was glad to save me from Snape too. He has to like me, doesn't he? I hope he does. If he doesn't, if it was just a spur of the moment thing, then…_They looked at each other awkwardly for a second. "So…" Hermione started, "what does this mean?"

"What does what mean?" George asked back, hiding the disappointment in his voice. _Oh no! She didn't like it. She doesn't like me. She thinks it was all a mistake._

"That kiss." _Oh please let him say something I like. Please let him say he wants to be together._

"Oh, that." George said. He didn't know what to say. He wanted to know what she thought about the kiss. He needed her answer. He knew that he loved it, but did she? "Do you want it to mean something?" George questioned.

Hermione didn't know what to say. She loved being able to kiss him, but did he? Did he want it to be more than a kiss? It would be so embarrassing if he didn't like her back. And then it would be awkward between them._What should I say?_

They walked quietly down the hallway a few more steps. Finally, George put his arm around Hermione's waist. It was now or never. If he didn't try now, and tell her how he felt, then it was all over. If he made a fool of himself and she didn't like him back, then so be it. He would have tried and he would get over it eventually…he hoped. _Here we go._

George stopped Hermione from walking. "Hey Hermione..." He said, more of a question than a statement.

"Yes?" 

He could only think of one thing to say. One thing to tell her what he was feeling and ask her if she wanted it too. "Wanna be my girlfriend?" 

A/N: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think ;D


	9. What to do about Ron?

A/N: Here's Chapter Nine, sorry I didn't have it up by Friday but I got it up as soon as I could. Thanks so much for the reviews, I appreciate them so much! ;D

All Over the Place

Chapter Nine: What to do about Ron?

Hermione had agreed to be George's girlfriend after a few minutes of squeals of delight and utter shock. He liked her too! They had both admitted to having crushes on each other a few days after George had asked Hermione to be his girlfriend. They laughed and giggled about how silly it was, and how they should have told each other sooner.

So here they were, a few months later, still as happy as could be. They didn't bicker and they didn't fight. They enjoyed each other's conversations and they both _really_ liked having a great snog partner.

Hermione was shocked to find that around George, she was a lot more risky then she thought she would ever be with her first boyfriend. They weren't shagging yet or anything, Hermione was definitely not ready for anything like that. They had only been going out for a little under three months, and that certainly was not enough time to be that serious yet. But Hermione certainly knew how to give a good kiss. And so they kissed, and kissed, and kissed, every spare moment they got. Everything was going quite well.

"Oww! Geeeeeeorge!" Hermione whined.

"I'm sorry," George said apologetically. "It's just so tight in here. Did I step on you again?"

Hermione nodded, and then realized it was dark and he couldn't see her reaction. "Yeah, but its okay."

"Maybe we should go look for an empty classroom or something-" George started.

"No!" Hermione cut in. "Last time we tried that we almost got caught. And I don't think that Katie Bell believed us when we said I was helping you with homework." She laughed.

George smiled. "Maybe not, but it's so small in here. There's not enough room to move around at all. Can we go somewhere else?" He pulled Hermione closer to him and put his forehead against hers. "Pleeeaasseee?" he asked.

"I'm getting tired anyway." Hermione yawned. "We should go to bed. What time is it?"

"Lumos," George muttered under his breath, pulling a small watch from his pocket. "10:45."

"We've been in here for hours!" Hermione exclaimed, making George chuckle.

"You lose track of time when you're having a good snog." George smiled.

"Ha ha," Hermione said while opening up the broom closet about an inch. "Nobody's coming. Let's go." She pulled George out of the closet with her as she tumbled to the ground. George kissed her passionately before giving her a huge grin.

"George!" Hermione said, trying to get him off of her. "Someone will see us! Get up!"

George kept smiling, seeing the obvious blush on her face. "I've been dating you for almost three months now Granger and you still blush every time I kiss you that hard. Am I really that good of a kisser?" he teased.

"Very funny," Hermione retorted, and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Now get off of me! I'm serious!" Hermione looked around, worried about anybody seeing them together.

George got up, and then helped Hermione get to her feet as well. "I think we should tell everyone." he said suddenly, as they walked up to the seventh floor. "Tell everyone we're a couple." He looked at her. "Don't you?"

Hermione could feel George's gaze on her. "I do…but I don't want to." She said with a sigh. "I just don't know how it'll go over with…well…some people." She frowned.

"You mean Ron," George said sullenly. "We can't keep it from him forever Hermione."

"I know," she said, shaking her head. "But ever since-I had no idea that he-" Hermione's voice faltered, remembering.

HERMIONE'S FLASHBACK

"Why are you so happy?" Ginny smiled as Hermione came bouncing into the room.

"Oh, no particular reason." Hermione replied absent mindedly.

"You've been happier in the past few weeks than I've seen you for a while, what's going on?" Ginny pushed.

"Really, it's nothing." Hermione sat down on her bed.

"Yeah right Hermione. The last time you were this happy is when you got the best grades out of everyone at Hogwarts. I know something has to be up."

"Well…" Should she tell Ginny? She was her best friend after all. They had been best friends since Ginny had started Hogwarts. And besides, Hermione didn't have that many girl friends. In fact, Ginny was her _only_ girl friend that she completely trusted. She had to tell Ginny. That's what best friends did. She would be betraying Ginny if she didn't tell her. Ginny would know what to do with a boyfriend and then she would have someone to talk to about George. It might be weird at first, but Hermione figured Ginny would get over the fact that Hermione was dating her brother.

"Hermione tell me!" Ginny sat on Hermione's bed, trying to read what was on her mind.

"I have a boyfriend." Hermione said quietly, her face beginning to turn a light pink.

"WHAT?!" Ginny shrieked.

"Hey! Not so loud, okay?" Hermione smiled, looking at her friend.

"When did this happen?!" Ginny asked, still looking very excited.

"A few weeks ago," Hermione admitted.

"And you kept it from me that long?!" Ginny yelled loudly.

Hermione covered her ears. "Gin, keep your voice down, will you?"

"I'm sorry Hermione," Ginny continued, "this is just so, so exciting!" She squealed pulling Hermione into a hug. "So when did it happen? When did Ron ask you? Did you say yes at first or did he have to beg and plead with you in order for you to say yes?"

"Ron?" Hermione asked confused.

"Yeah, I'm so glad he finally got up the guts to ask you out." Ginny beamed. "And you look so happy; you must really like him too."

"But I'm not dating Ron." Hermione said abruptly.

"What?" Ginny looked stunned.

"Why did you think I was dating Ron?" Hermione asked.

"Who _are _you dating?" Ginny still looked surprised.

"Does Ron like me?"

"Who are you dating?!"

"You first!"

"No you first!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Okay fine, I'll go first." Ginny gave in. "BUT-you have to tell me who you're dating after this, okay?" She waited for Hermione's response.

"Okay deal." Hermione agreed.

"Ron told me he liked you months ago." Ginny informed her. "He said he just didn't know how to tell you and he didn't know if you liked him back." She glanced at Hermione. "I knew you liked him somewhat last year and I told him that, but I wasn't sure if you still liked him since you hadn't said anything about him for months. So I guess I just assumed that he had asked you. You are all he talked about this past summer, and every time I have a minute alone with him, you're all he wants to talk about still."

"Oh my goodness." Hermione covered her mouth.

"I know." Ginny said, shaking her head in disbelief. "But if you're not dating Ron, then who are you dating?"

Hermione cringed. Should she tell Ginny? She didn't really have a choice. "George," she answered softly.

"George from Hufflepuff?" Ginny said surprised. "Wow, I never knew you guys even talked to each other. I would have never guessed you two being a couple."

"No, not that George." Hermione said, fiddling with her hands to keep herself busy.

"What George?" Ginny asked, trying to think of another George that went to the school. "I don't think I know of any other George, who is he?" Ginny's face dropped. "Please don't tell me it's a Slytherin!" She begged.

Hermione was able to show a small smile at this. "No, I promise. He's not a Slytherin."

"Then who is it? What George do we know that goes to Hogwarts that I don't know of."

"Oh Ginny, I don't know how to say this." Hermione buried her head in her hands. "I'm dating George, George Weasley."

Ginny's face dropped. "You're WHAT?"

"I'm dating your brother." Hermione said, a little fearful.

Ginny was quiet for a few minutes, trying to comprehend the information Hermione had given her. Finally, she spoke. "I knew you guys were hanging out a lot more and were friends…" She paused. "And I guess it all makes sense now." She said more to herself, than to Hermione. "But you're, you're…?"

"We're dating." Hermione confirmed.

"Wow. Hermione. I don't even know what to say." Ginny was taken aback.

"Oh Ginny, please don't be mad at me," Hermione looked worried. "It was never my intention to hurt you. I had no idea that Ron liked me. And oh, this is such a big mess." She looked at the ground.

Ginny gave Hermione a hug. "Hermione, I'm not mad at you!" She patted her friend's back. "It just took a minute to sink in." She pulled back from the hug. "So you're dating my brother, huh?" Hermione nodded. "Not the one I thought," Ginny pondered, "But still a Weasley." She laughed.

Hermione changed the subject, thinking about Ron. "Poor Ron!" She moaned, falling back against her pillow. "What am I going to do?"

"I don't know." Ginny said honestly. "You're in a tough spot."

"That's for sure," Hermione huffed.

"You're going to have to just tell him I guess." Ginny looked at Hermione.

"But he'll hate me! I can't tell him that I'm dating someone else, not to mention that someone else is his brother! Me and George haven't told anyone yet that we're dating. Well, not besides you and Fred. We wanted to keep our relationship private for a little while, but now I'm not sure what to do. Maybe we should just keep it private altogether."

"So what? You just keep it from Ron forever? That's not very fair to him Hermione." Ginny answered.

"I know…" Hermione sighed. "I just don't know what to do right now. I guess I'll have to figure it out. And soon." Hermione frowned.

END OF FLASHBACK

"This is so hard," Hermione said, looking at George sadly. "If we tell Ron, he'll most likely be so upset. He's one of my best friends. I don't know if I could do that to him."

"We've already done it to him." George said gently. "We've been dating for almost three months now. Are we going to keep this a secret forever?"

"You're right." Hermione said gloomily. "I hate to hurt him though. He isn't going to take it well."

"I know," George frowned. "I'm worried about that too." He confessed.

GEORGE'S FLASHBACK

"So how's Hermione doing today?" Fred asked as George came through the doorway looking quite cheery.

"Wonderful." George responded happily.

"I'm glad you two finally got together." Fred tapped a faulty joke product with his wand he was trying to fix, attempting to mend it. "It took you two so long to figure it out. Figure out you liked each other anyways."

"Hermione told me how you told her I liked her." George tossed his jacket on the dresser. "That was just plain cruel." He sat on the bed. "But thanks." George grinned at his brother.

"I had to tell her something or you two would never have gotten together!" Fred laughed, still trying to fix the damaged joke product.

"Maybe so," George snickered, coming across the room to pick up the joke product from Fred. "I'm just happy we're together now."

George picked up the joke product from Fred, examining it to see if there was anything he could do to fix it. It was a piece of paper that was supposed to shout out compliments at the receiver but instead, it was shouting out insults such as "you look like crap today, did you know that?" and "go hide under a rock, no one wants to see something that looks as bad as you do."

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something." Fred interrupted George's concentration.

"Yeah?" George said, acknowledging he was listening.

"Do you remember the prank we played on Hermione a while ago?"

"How could I forget it? That's the first time I got to kiss the girl." George smiled to himself.

"Do you remember whose idea that was originally?" Fred asked.

George frowned. "It was Ron's. I know."

"We switched his prank around. And he doesn't know it, not exactly anyways." Fred shook his head. "If he knew what we did, and that you kissed Hermione, I can't even imagine what the little Ronniekins would do."

"I know, I know!" George said frustrated. "But I like Hermione, we're dating, what am I supposed to do?"

"I think you need to tell Hermione." Fred said delicately. "You need to tell Hermione how we switched Ron's prank around and completely screwed him over."

"I can't do that!" George exclaimed.

"If he ever gets the guts to tell her the way that day was really supposed to go, then you won't have a chance." Fred answered. "Hermione would be so upset. You know she would be."

George groaned.

"It's best if she hears it from you." Fred continued.

"But how?" George grumbled.

"Tell her it was just a joke. A joke we were just trying to play on Ron, and it turned into something we didn't expect. I don't know…just tell her the truth I guess." Fred shook his head. "You're in a pickle."

"Don't you think I know it?" George glared at himself in the mirror across the room. "I can't tell Hermione. She'll hate me." He muttered.

Fred gave him a sympathetic look.

"I don't know what to do." George mumbled.

END OF FLASHBACK

When Hermione had suggested they keep their relationship quiet from the public eye for a few weeks, George had agreed without hesitating. He didn't want Ron to find out that he was dating Hermione. If Ron found out, it would be a disaster. Ron had liked Hermione and George had pretty much taken Hermione right out from under him. That was the way Ron would see it at least. But George couldn't help who he liked. It wasn't as if he had asked to fall for Hermione, it had just happened. And he didn't regret it at all. He was thrilled to be dating her.

So once Hermione had suggested they keep their relationship a secret for more than a little while, he had once again agreed without hesitation. He knew Hermione had some type of fear about telling Ron herself and he was afraid to face his little brother. He was even more afraid to face _Hermione _after it was all over If she ever knew about Ron's plan, she would leave him. And for the first couple of months, he didn't want to lose her no matter what. But he didn't want to tell her the truth either. Yet, Fred was right. He needed to tell Hermione about the 'prank' and the way it was really supposed to unfold. He just wasn't sure how to go about it.

"So why are you worried about telling Ron about us?" Hermione asked George.

_Crap. _George didn't know what to say. Hermione didn't know that the 'prank' that had started this entire mess had been Ron's idea originally. She didn't know that, like an idiot, he and has twin had screwed it up and ruined Ron's moment. If Hermione found out that he had ruined Ron's idea, then she would never forgive him. If she found out that Ron really liked her and was trying to show her that day but he had intervened and made it into a joke, how would she react? _She would hate you, you big git! _

"Oh, um…" He racked his brains for an answer. "I'm just worried, you know… he's my little brother and all. I just don't know how he'll take it is all." He hoped his lie would work.

"Oh," Hermione said, seemed to buy into his response.

But now George was getting sick of hiding from everyone and pretending that they weren't a couple. Yes, he was afraid of what would happen if they did go public, but in his opinion, it was worth it. He wanted to be able to kiss Hermione in the common room instead of just ignoring her. He wanted people to know that they just weren't friends. He was tired of hiding, and he wanted to become a real couple, one that could actually do things together in front of other people.

He knew Hermione wouldn't be happy if she found out about Ron, he was more than afraid about what would happen. He would just have to pray that everything went over well and that all would work out okay. Even though he knew it wouldn't. He was still going to go through with it.

"So what do you say Hermione?" George asked her. "Ready to go public with us?"

"Well…" She started. She liked George. And she wanted to keep dating him. Ginny was right, they couldn't keep their relationship a secret forever. They had been dating for almost three months. She didn't like Ron. The only way he would know that is if she showed him that she was dating someone else. It killed her to know that it would hurt him so, but she couldn't lead him on like this. She couldn't let him think that she was still single and available when she wasn't. She had to tell him. No matter how much it hurt.

"Okay," Hermione looked at George, "Let's do it."

George smiled at her, grabbing her hand. "How about this weekend? On our three month anniversary?"

"Sure, why not." Hermione agreed as they reached the portrait hole.

"Wishbones." George said, and the portrait swung open.

They both entered, saying a quick goodnight, and headed up to their respective dormitories. Neither one knowing the other was just as scared out of their minds about revealing their relationship.

---------Hermione and George's Three Month Anniversary--------

Hermione and George were sitting very close together, hands entwined and enjoying themselves on the couch. Gathered around them enjoying the fire were Fred, Ginny, Parvati, Angelina, Katie Bell, and Lee Jordan. Everyone that had seen them together so far that evening had been more than okay with their relationship.

A few people had been stunned at first, such as Angelina, receiving the same reply as Ginny, "No way! No way! You two? Together? You've got to be kidding me." And then the girl cracked up in laughter.

But so far, no one had been angry at them. Everyone had been very accepting and nice towards the two, and both Hermione and George were starting to feel more comfortable about letting it out that they were a couple.

Harry and Ron walked in, talking and laughing about the Quidditch semi-match they had just played against each other outside. Harry was the first one to notice the couple on the couch, and he wasn't quite sure what he was seeing. It looked as if George and Hermione were holding hands. It looked as if the two were romantically involved the way they were looking at each other. They were looking at each other as if they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

However, Ron seemed to notice Harry's lack of attention. He turned to see what the distraction was and saw Hermione sitting on the couch. But why was George so close to her? And were they holding hands?! What was his brother _doing?_ He had to stop this. Stop this right now.

Ron stormed over towards where Hermione and George sat, laughing after just hearing a joke Angelina had just told. "What is going on here?" Ron demanded, glaring at George.

Hermione moved a little bit away from George, frightened by Ron's reaction. She hated to see Ron like this. She didn't want him to know. She didn't want him to have to know what he was about to find out.

Hermione felt herself being pulled back to George's side. "Ron, we were going to tell you," Hermione started, "we just didn't-"

"It's okay Hermione, you don't have to explain. I know what this freak of a guy I call my brother was trying to do to you and I won't let it happen!" Ron went over to Hermione and pulled her off the couch firmly.

George stood up, getting defensive of Hermione. "Let go of my girlfriend!" He growled.

"Your girlfriend?!" Ron was getting furious. "She is NOT your girlfriend!"

"Yes she is!" George said, placing his hand in Hermione's.

"No she's not!" Ron responded, jerking Hermione away.

"Yes she is! Let her go!" George was fuming mad too.

"No! She is NOT your girlfriend!" Ron spat back.

"Yes she is!"

"No she isn't!"

"YES SHE IS!"

"NO SHE ISN"T!"

"SHE IS TOO!"

"SHE IS NOT!"

"SHE IS!"

"STOP LYING YOU BIG JERK!"

"**GUYS!"** Harry intervened, yelling at the top of his lungs.

"What?!" George and Ron looked at Harry, both very red in the face.

"I think you should both just calm down." Harry said, looking specifically at Ron. "The yelling isn't going to help at all.

Fred was looking at Hermione. She looked sad. He felt bad for her. He knew that Hermione liked his twin, and not Ron. _This must be so hard for her_. She looked so upset; he didn't know what she would do.

Ron looked at Hermione. "Hermione, please tell my stupid brother that you are NOT his girlfriend."

His eyes were on her. They looked so innocent and trusting. He had no idea. No idea that she was about to break his heart. "Ron," Hermione said sadly. "I've been dating George for a couple of months now. I'm sorry. I didn't tell you only because I was worried about what you'd think. You are so protective all the time and I understand that because you're my best friend and all. But-" Hermione couldn't continue. She wouldn't help anything by saying anything else. She knew it wouldn't help anything. She had run out of words.

Ron didn't say anything else to Hermione. He couldn't even look at her. He turned to George, and looked at him with a cold stare.

Suddenly, Ron's fist collided with George's face, creating a loud "CRACK!" heard throughout the common room, and George landed on the ground, blood dripping from his nose. Hermione rushed over to see if he was okay, that being her first impulse.

Ron looked so upset. He still didn't look at Hermione. Keeping a steady gaze on George, he spoke. "You knew I liked her," he said sternly. "That whole thing that day with the kissing guys obsessing over Hermione. It was supposed to be about ME that day. But you-you," Ron looked at Fred disgusted. "And your stupid twin brother just had to have another prank come out of this. And you ruined it for me." He paused really sadly. "You ruined my idea to have Hermione, you stole my girl…you stole my love."

Ron started to walk out of the room, but then turned around. "What's next George? Huh?? What are you going to take next? Because I don't think I have anything left." And with that, he walked up to his room, and Harry hurried after him.

Hermione looked at George, and asked what Ron was talking about. "He said something about an idea? What idea was he talking about? What does this have to do with that prank you guys pulled on me?" She looked at him puzzled. George knew that she was trying to put the pieces together in her mind.

George looked very guilty.

A/N: So that was Chapter Nine. I hoped you all liked it. Thanks again for reading, and let me know what you thought! I'm hoping I'll have Chapter Ten out by Tuesday. I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter as well! ;D


	10. George's Big Mistake

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've had a lot going on since I last updated. All I can say is that life is crazy, but I'm still writing. I did keep writing for part of my break from so I do have a few chapters written, however my internet was down so I could not post them. Here are the next two chapters, to make up for the wait, and I'll have the next few up every few days or so now that summer is almost on its way! Chapter 10 and 11 are fairly short, but necessary. The next update (Chapter 12) will finally have the first inkling of Fred/Hermione just to let you know!!

All Over the Place

Chapter 10: George's Big Mistake

--

"WHAT?!" Hermione shrieked. "You did WHAT?"

"Hermione, I swear I never meant to-"George tried but Hermione interrupted him.

"No! I don't even want to hear it George. How could you do that to your brother?" She stared at him for a moment, and then frowned. "You know what? I don't even want to know. I'm leaving." Hermione turned on her heels and started up to the girls' dormitories.

As she was just about to climb the staircase, George grabbed her lightly on the arm.

"What?!" Hermione spat angrily.

George could see the anger in her eyes. He knew he had betrayed her. Why hadn't he told her? Why?! If he had explained himself, then he probably wouldn't be in the situation he was in now. _Stupid stupid stupid!_

"Hermione I'm sorry." George begged her.

She could see the pleading look in his eyes but she wasn't about to let him off easy. She wasn't about to let him off at all for that matter. Why would she?! He had _lied _to her. She had trusted him and what had he done? He _lied. _Big time.

"Is that all you have to say?" She said, putting one hand on her waist.

"I'm sorry Her-"

"I know George. You're _sorry! _That's all you have to say. You're _sorry. _Well, I'm _sorry_ but that's not going to cut it. Will _sorry _fix what you did to Ron? Will _sorry _fix anything? Of course it won't! And what do you have to say about all of this? You're _SORRY!"_

She stared at him, resentment written all over her face.

"Hermione I don't know what to say..." George faltered.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

"I can only say-"Hermione put up her hand to silence him.

"You know what George? I don't care what you have to say anymore. I _trusted_ you. Now I know I never should have." And with that, she turned and stomped up the stairs to her room.

George felt like crap. _Well you did this to yourself. If you would have told her, all of this could have been avoided._

--

The first time a gift arrived with the morning post, Hermione opened it. Upon seeing it was only another apology from George, she crumpled it up and left it on her plate, to be thrown away with the garbage from breakfast.

Any time after that, she would read the card. If it said the name George, she would gather her belongings, along with the gift, and stride out of the Great Hall, not missing a beat as she tossed the gift into the large waste bin beside the doors of the entrance.

George tried flowers. They didn't work. And then chocolate. No success. Then roses, apologies, candies, singing cards, bewitched items that begged for her forgiveness, and just about every other trick in the book. But Hermione wasn't falling for any of them. All that George was given was the cold shoulder.

He would come up to her, and attempt to have a conversation. But that was always hard since Ron and Harry were always around her. Ron had seemed to forgiven Hermione for being with George because she had broken up with him. He hadn't tried anything with her yet, but George was betting Ron was only waiting till Hermione got over him to try something. He knew Hermione didn't like Ron-but Ron didn't know that so he clung to her like glue-therefore making it near impossible to get within 10 feet of her without a glare from Ron and a yell of colorful threats if he got any closer.

When Hermione was alone, at rare times, she ignored him. She wouldn't talk to him. She wouldn't look at him. She simply ignored him and kept walking.

If Harry and Ron appeared while George was attempting to get her attention, Hermione would grin at them and wave, pretending as if George wasn't there at all. Harry and Ron, of course, would run over immediately and glare at George while walking away with Hermione towards the next class.

Hermione hadn't had contact with him in weeks. It was driving him mad. She wouldn't look at him. She wouldn't speak to him. She wouldn't touch him. He missed her laughter, he missed making her smile. He missed being able to tell a joke and have her face light up afterward. He missed taking walks with her and cuddling her in his arms. The worst part-he hadn't kissed her in weeks.

--

"Any luck today?" Fred asked, looking up from the paperwork he was doing for the joke products.

"No." George whined, throwing himself on the bed, and letting the roses he was carrying drop to the floor beside him.

"She's been doing this for weeks man. I don't think she's about to give it up." Fred commented.

"There's got to be a way to get through to her." George stared out the window in frustration. "I know there's got to be! I just have to figure out how!"

Fred worked in silence while George continued to stare out the window for a few more minutes. George jolted up in bed, a smile on his face for the first time in weeks.

"What?" Fred said, without even looking up.

"You!" George replied, pointing at his brother.

"Me?" Fred asked, confused.

"Yes!"

"Me? What about me?"

"You can talk to Hermione for me!" George jumped off the bed excitedly.

"No way!"

George's face fell a little. "Why?"

"She hates you! Just think of what she'd do to me!"

"Aww come on, Fred. All she's given me is the cold shoulder. It's not as if she would jinx you or anything." George pleaded.

Fred looked at his brother. He was his twin after all. And he looked…sad. He knew he didn't want to do it. But he knew he was going to do it, for his brother. "Okay," he agreed with a sigh.

"Thanks Fred! I owe you, anything you want!" George beamed.

"I'll hold onto that favor for years to come." Fred muttered, and got up to leave. "I'll go try now I guess."

"Good luck!" He heard George call as he left the room.

--

"Hermione! Hey Hermione!" Fred called as the bushy-haired girl made her way down the hallway.

Hermione turned her head to glance back at him, but turned back around seeing it was him. Ron and Harry by her side, the three continued to class.

Jogging a little, Fred was able to catch up to the three fast-walkers in order to confront Hermione.

"Have you gone deaf or something?" He asked her, "I've been calling your name for a few minutes here."

Hermione didn't respond.

"Oh, just go away Fred." Ron said angrily, glaring at his brother. "She doesn't care what George told you to tell us."

Fred noticed Hermione avert her eyes to him when Ron had mentioned his name and the blank expression leave her face for a moment before pretending nothing had happened. She hadn't realized it was him at first. She had thought he was George. That was interesting…he stowed away that information for later.

"He misses you Hermione." Fred said as they continued on to Herbology class.

"What else is new?" Ron muttered, rolling his eyes.

"He's like a sad little puppy dog." Fred continued, staring at Hermione. "All alone, depressed even, you could say."

"And I should care why?" Hermione asked him, not looking up.

Fred could hear the malice in her voice. "Well, I thought you cared for him. That's why. I thought you really liked him. But I guess not." Fred stopped walking. "Sorry I bothered you. " He started walking the opposite direction, back up to the seventh floor. Hermione paused for a second, looking back at him.

"Coming Hermione?" Ron called from a few feet in front of her.

"Yeah," she called, staring at Fred for a moment in thought before turning back around and continuing on with her friends.

She liked George still, though she wouldn't admit it to anyone. Even though he had done that horrible prank, she had feelings for him. But she was more than angry at him. And she couldn't forgive him. Ron was one of her best friends and for George to do that to him was…unacceptable.

All the gifts he had sent didn't help her trying to get over him. She knew she could try, if given time and away from George. But he was always there. Always trying to get her to talk to him. Always trying to beg for her forgiveness. She had thought about giving him a second chance, but had decided against it many times.

Things between George and her were over. She had cried when she had first broken up with him for weeks, not truly wanting to let him go. He had been her 'new' best friend, someone she could trust. And he had broken that trust by lying to her. She needed to get over him, she just didn't know how.

A/N: Let me know what you think!


	11. I Love You Too?

All Over the Place

Chapter 11: I Love You Too?

--

Two days after Fred had attempted to talk to Hermione, George decided to try again.

He came up to her in the hall after Ancient Runes, a class he knew she had alone without Harry and Ron.

"Hermione, you can't keep ignoring me like this." He pleaded.

"Watch me." Hermione answered, and kept walking.

"We're making progress," George attempted a grin, "That's the first word you've spoken to me in weeks! That's good!"

Hermione turned to look at him, a cold stare on her face. "And these are the last eight you'll hear." Not noticing the group of Ravenclaws in front of her while she was talking, she made contact with the back of a few and all of her books fell to the floor.

George instantly went down, picking them all up. "Here," he handed them to her.

"Thanks." She turned to walk away.

"Hermione," George took hold of her arm gently. "Please?"

"Hermione turned around, shrugging him off with a sigh. "I can't keep doing this George. I can't. Please leave me alone."

"Will you please just hear me out?" George asked with the saddest eyes Hermione had ever seen. She was silent for a moment before she answered.

"Alright." She agreed reluctantly. "Let's go outside."

George followed Hermione out of the corridor, out of the building, and out of Hogwarts onto the grounds. They walked silently for a few moments, both staring at the lake.

"I miss these walks with you," George said softly, brushing his hand against hers.

Hermione moved hers away. "George, just say what you need to say."

He took a deep breath. He didn't know how to say it all but he could try. He would try to tell her how he felt, how badly he missed her and how he wanted to be together again. And if she rejected him, then he would be heartbroken and miserable. But at least he would have tried.

"I know it might have started out being a prank. But I really actually liked you after it was all over. When you kissed me under the potion, I-I…I-felt-like, I felt like I had never felt before. No one has made me feel that way ever in my life. Except you. The prank started out all as a joke, a prank to get Ron and nothing more."

He glanced at Hermione. She wasn't saying anything, only staring at the ground as they walked on. She looked sad, but he continued.

"I knew Ron had a crush on you, but I did too. Hanging out with you made me like you even more. And when we finally became a couple, I wanted to keep our relationship a secret for a while. Because I knew Ron would be upset. But everything was so confusing. I really liked you, and so did he. I knew you liked me and not him. I knew you wanted to be with me. I had you as my girlfriend and I didn't want to let you go. I was so glad you were _my_ girlfriend, and I was the happiest man at Hogwarts, being with you. When I am with you, I still am the happiest man at Hogwarts. Nothing could make me happier than being with you."

Hermione was looking at him now, but showing no expression.

"All I can is that I'm sorry Hermione. It was a cruel prank and I AM sorry that it happened. I'm sorry I betrayed your trust and didn't tell you sooner. I'm sorry you had to find out that way, and I should have been the one to tell you in the first place. If you want, I'll apologize to Ron. Right after this is over."

He looked at Hermione; she was simply staring at the lake, in deep thought. He took her hands in his, pulling her a little closer. She let him, but still did not reply. After a few minutes, she looked up at him, directly in the eyes.

"George," she whispered. "Even though we-even though we had something-even though we still have something-I don't think I can do this anymore. I'm not sure if I can come to trust you again. Saying you like me isn't enough. I know you like me-I like you. I _really_ do. Through all of this, I've liked you even though I shouldn't." She paused, angling her head to get a better view of him. She drew back from him, and tried to let go of his hands. But George wouldn't let her.

"This is all too confusing." She muttered under her breath.

"No Hermione, no." He said pulling her to him. "You want something more than I like you? How about I love you_. I love you Hermione Granger_. Being apart from you all this time has showed me that more than ever. I think I've been in love with you since that stupid prank. That silly prank that brought us together in the first place! These last few months have been so wonderful when we were together…I don't know what I would do without you. When you wouldn't look at me, when you wouldn't speak to me, it was driving me insane. It felt like you were breaking my heart in two. Being with you makes me whole. Hermione Granger, I love you."

Hermione was baffled. Her mind was swirling with thoughts and things George had said. George _loved _her? He was in love with _her_? She didn't know what to say. She liked George. But she knew she didn't love him. When they kissed, it was pleasant. It was nice. It felt good to make out. But it wasn't fireworks, head over heels, reach for the stars, love. What do you say to someone who has just said that they love you? To someone who has just proclaimed their love for you?

He was looking at her so admiringly, so adoringly, so fondly. She couldn't break his heart, not now. He was too kind, too sweet. Ron may be her best friend, but she couldn't hurt George anymore. She couldn't stand to let him down. She liked him a lot, and the eyes staring into hers were more important than anything else at the moment. They were so full of hope, so full of…love.

George was wondering what was going through her head. She had said nothing-she had actually looked shocked when he had come clean about what he really felt for her. Yeah, he loved her. Originally, it hadn't been his plan to admit it. He hadn't known how much he did care for her until just now. But when George thought about it, he had to admit to himself that yes-he did love Hermione Granger. He loved her more than anything else. He would do anything for her. Now he had to wait and see how she felt. This was the worst part: Waiting.

This was the moment where Hermione had to make a choice: Be with George or not.

Looking into George's eyes, she knew she would be happy saying yes. Yes to George. Yes that she wanted to be with him. Ron would be really upset, but given time, he would get over it. All of her other friends would support any decision she made. She was in awe that George could feel that way about her. That he could be in love with her. She was touched, honored, and flattered. Hermione forgot about the problems the prank had caused, Ron's anguish, and her own hate of George Weasley. Not saying "I love you" would hurt him so much. And this moment only came once, when two people said those three special words to each other. Normally, she liked to take things a lot slower. After all, they had only been seeing each other for a few months, but she could make an exception.

Hermione hesitated. Her morals were telling her no. That she shouldn't do it. She was about to tell a lie. A very big one.

"I think-I…oh George-I-I think I love you too." Hermione sputtered out.

George was overjoyed with happiness. He hadn't heard the way Hermione _said _I love you. He had only heard the words. She loved him too. _SHE LOVES ME TOO!!_ He picked up Hermione with ease, spinning her around.

Hermione laughed, enjoying the moment too. She didn't love him yet…no. With time, she figured, she would learn to love him too. But for now, this was okay.

A/N: Let me know what you think! Thanks!


End file.
